


Heart of Defiance

by battlemage15



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Fights, Flashbacks, Original Character(s), Point of Divergence - End of RWBY Season Three, The Great Game (RWBY Setting)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 14:50:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 31
Words: 157,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7896874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/battlemage15/pseuds/battlemage15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Your Semblance, Yang Xiao Long, is not fueled by taking hits or anger.  Your Semblance is fueled by pain."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Survive

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you vagrantBreathe for being a constant, kind and listening ear to bounce my ideas off of. You have heard and read more versions of this story than anyone will ever know.
> 
> This was originally rated Teen and Up. I am on the fence about that, now. I have raised it to Mature, but when I was 12-13 I used to watch and read things more graphic than this, so eh... just erring on the side of caution. Mostly did it because of the violence.

"What are you?"

Yang clenched her eyes shut, her face in the dust, sweat stinging in her eyes and in the nicks on her skin. Her feet were blistered, some broken open, and her muscles ached. Dehydration was setting in, heart stroke not far off. The silence of the desert was deafening to the point tinnitus rung faintly in her ears.

She took a dry swallow and exhaled, sending sand billowing from her face. Her skin burned, ravaged by the pitiless sun blazing above. Yang clenched her teeth and groaned, balling her remaining hand into a fist through the pain of broken fingers and put it flush with the ground.

"What are you?"

He was waiting, a pair of black boots heavily dusted with red sand. He stood just two meters away. The edges of his faded blue jeans were equally stained with the sands of Vacuo. Beyond the pair of legs clouds began to gather in the far distance, black and imposing. The occasional flash of brilliant blue lightning arced through them.

The storm was coming fast.

"What. Are. You."

"I'm..." Yang rasped, her voice so hoarse it was almost a whisper. She had not been allowed the luxury of water for hours of hard training. She had not earned it.

He was silent... waiting.

"I'm a Huntress..."

"What are you going to do?"

Her left arm began to shake with weakness as she pushed it into the ground, slowly gaining upward movement. Her chest rose from the sand, her legs moving slowly at first, every muscle in her body lighting afire. Lactic acid burned her as furiously as the sun, sand and dry air, but still, she slowly rose.

Yang got to her feet, her khaki pants and orange top filthy from the sand. She stood in a slump.

Her instructor, an imposing, well built man about two meters tall nodded once. His eyes were obscured by shadow under his overgrown light brown hair with a few shots of white through it. His fair skin was faintly tanned and slightly red from the heat. The man's jaw was square, with a wide, jagged scar running up from under the left side to just beneath his left eye socket.

His grown in and well maintained beard and mustache were lightly streaked with white. He raised his arms, bare, powerful and covered in numerous scars of dozens, perhaps hundreds of battles, muscles flexing beneath his tight, short-sleeved white shirt stained heavily red with the sand.

"Let us continue."

"I... can't..."

"Prepare to defend yourself."

Yang's purple eyes began to narrow, her expression turning to exacerbation. If she had any water to spare, a tear would have rolled down her bruised and nicked cheek. Her emotions were coming up, sticking in her throat, but she fought them back.

She could barely stand. Her lone arm felt like it had a sack of sledgehammers tied to it.

"I can't..."

"Only the dead cannot." He subtly gestured her to guard with his fists. "You are still alive. Impose your will."

"I need... water..."

"Your body needs water. You do not. At any rate, the desert will provide soon enough." There was no pity in his deep voice. "Now, impose your will."

On two poles nearby his blue jean jacket with white lightning bolt on the back and her khaki jacket hung. They began to flutter gently, the breeze picking up and kicking up a faint haze of sand. Lightning flashed through the clouds of the closing storm on the horizon once more.

His fists gestured her to raise her guard one more time. "What are you?"

"I am a Huntress..."

"What are you going to do?"

"Keep... fighting..."

"And?"

Yang steeled herself and raised her fist slowly, adopting a stance her father taught her. She had no Aura left; nothing to power her Semblance in spite of all the punishment she had suffered in the past weeks. Still, her fist came up alongside her left cheek. She took a deep breathe.

She was afraid and suddenly, very alert.

"Survive."

His muscles moved under his sand-stained white shirt, the article dry as he likely had less water to sweat than she. His right arm lashed out and she intercepted it, the powerful blow breaking on her guard and sending pain up her arm. Another blow came in and Yang eluded, ducking under, his arm passing through her mane. Next came a kick and still she managed to stay elusive, her legs finding that last measure of strength to move her.

Attack after attack came, time and again Yang managing to avoid it or deflect it with her arm and fist. When more kicks came and she could not move aside, back or jump away, she raised her leg and protected herself like her father taught her. She began to roll, to juke and to slide.

Where the energy came from, she had no idea.

The storm was coming closer and faster now. She could see the sands in the distance kicking up, but she quickly put it from her mind. Her instructor seemed to pay no heed to the fury that was rapidly coming upon them.

Yang was desperate for rest on her third day with almost no sleep. Dehydration was taking dominion and her entire body was near collapse. She was battered; two of her ribs were broken and three fingers on her remaining hand were broken as well. Still, she fought on for nearly two minutes, never once landing a blow, but managing to avoid each and every one he sent at her.

Her body wanted to quit, but her will had taken dominion.

He fought her harder than any teacher or sparring partner she had ever studied with. Yang managed to keep up her defenses with no Aura and no Semblance, a third minute of unbroken combat passing. She never once landed a blow or launched a punch.

It was all about survival.

Then it all came to an end when a blinding whiteness filled her head. His fist found her, square between the eyes. Yang fell to the sands in a heap and slowly began to slip from consciousness.

"Well done." His voice sounded distant and faint, not even a slight hint of exhaustion in his tone. "You may rest."

She felt the rapidly cooling wind passing over her skin. At the last, she felt the wetness of the desert rain.

Yang invited richly earned oblivion.


	2. What Had Been Truly Lost

Yang stirred slowly in her bed, the smell of eggs and toast in the air. Her purple eyes opened to the brightness of her room, the window frosted from the winter cold. Her vision adjusted slowly as she moved her right arm and sighed, realizing it was indeed still gone. Her mind and muscle memory wanted to push the covers of her bed aside with her right hand

She was still not acclimated to the limb's absence.

She grabbed the blanket and sheet with her left hand and pushed it down, sitting up slowly in bed. Yang exhaled and moved her wild locks from her face, picking up a white ribbon from the night stand and slowly working at tying it about her blonde hair to keep it from her face. It was difficult, her left hand working slowly and having to restart twice.

Her purple eyes fell upon the dresser across the room, sitting atop it the remaining half of Ember Celica in compacted bracelet form. She stared at it, emotions coming to her fresh and raw again, just like the morning before and the one before that and every morning since that day.

The flashing red sword; the night turning black and red; the overwhelming shock.

The horrible realization when she first came to.

Yang stared hard at Ember Celica, her weapon's right half missing. She looked at the clean, white bandaged stub of her right arm and then back to her weapon. Near her weapon was a picture frame laid on its face. They were all gone... Pyrrha was dead. Beacon was lost.

Weiss was taken. Blake had run away.

So had Ruby.

Nothing was ever going to be the same.

"Breakfast is ready, Sweetie."

The door to her room was open. How long her father had been standing there, Yang was not sure. She sighed and nodded, sliding her legs off the bed and getting to her feet. She followed her father to the kitchen.

Breakfast was indeed fried eggs with bright yellow yokes and buttered, golden toast along with a bowl of oat meal with berries. The glasses were full of orange juice with plenty of ice. An empty coffee mug sat beside each glass, a pot of the black liquid sitting on an insulated pot holder on her father's half of the round table.

Yang pulled her chair out and sat down. She wrapped her legs around the legs of the chair and pulled it in as she lifted her behind just a bit. Once her seat was in place she picked up her fork.

Her father sat across from her, slid his chair in and lifted his fork. If Yang was the spitting image of her mother in black and white, her father was the palette that colored her different. He cut into his eggs and smiled, warmness in the man's blue eyes.

"Coffee?"

Yang shook her head, her father pouring himself a cup. He set the pot back down once done, taking his coffee black with no sugar.

"How did you sleep?"

She was not in the mood for small talk. The past weeks of it had grown old. "Dad, stop it."

Taiyang shrugged, still smiling. "You know I never will."

Yang sighed and began cutting up her eggs slowly with the fork tentatively clenched in her left hand, still not used to using that hand. She could throw a mean punch with her left, but using a simple fork demanded her concentration. She picked up a piece of egg and brought it up, her head coming down to meet it halfway as to not have it slip free prematurely.

It was good, but the flavor did little to assuage her mood.

Ruby was gone only a few days now. Where to, Yang did not know. Nor did her father. She brooded as she ate. Deep down, Yang resented being left behind by her sister.

By everyone.

But especially by her partner.

She ate slowly and carefully. First the eggs. Then she set the fork down and picked up a piece of toast, all ready buttered by her father, and started cleaning the yoke from the plate with the bread. She bit into the toast. She was certainly eating well these days, but not enjoying it.

She would rather be having a ration pack in the field while on the hunt for Grimm.

"I was thinking we could go for a run today?" Taiyang looked at the frosty window, picking up his bowl of oatmeal. "Maybe do a little training?" He smirked, casting an eye on his daughter. "I saw you looking at Ember Celica this morning."

She tried to ignore him, concentrating on eating. Yang finished her piece of toast and picked up a slice of bacon, biting into the crunchy meat.

"You know, your old man still has a few moves he can teach you. New stances and styles."

Yang did her best to block him out. She finished the strip of bacon, picked up the remaining piece of toast and began cleaning the last of the yoke with it.

Taiyang seemed to deflate a little, his smile falling off at the edges and his shoulders lowering. "Sweetie... you have to-"

Yang dropped the toast and stood sharply, sending the chair slamming into the kitchen floor. She started towards her room. Yang had heard enough. Her mood went from poor to dark. She just wanted to be alone now.

"Yang..."

She went back into her room and slammed the door behind herself, shaking the very framework of the house. A picture fell from the wall by the door, Yang taking a reflexive step towards it and reaching out with her right arm. The picture fell past her, through where her hand would have been waiting, and broke when it the ground.

Yang stumbled into the cracked frame with her right foot, breaking the glass. A sharp pain filled her foot, the glass cutting her skin. She cried out more from frustration than pain. Yang jumped back and hit the foot of her bed, slumping down against it to the floor.

The door opened quickly, Taiyang looking down at his daughter. Her foot was bleeding, a piece of bloody, broken glass sticking out of the bottom. "Sweetie, it's okay, I'll-"

Yang stared the picture by her foot and screamed, her face turning red, her amethyst eyes wide with anger and sorrow. Her and Ruby's smiling, childish faces stared back, drops of blood on them.

A large smear of blood covered little Yang's right arm.

Her eyes flashed to red and she slammed her left fist into her bed, cracking the study wooden frame. It was an unbearable sight. Yang screamed again, kicking her feet.

She had to finally accept it. She stared at her own innocent, youthful face... and how the blood almost seemed to erase her right arm from time. It wounded Yang's emotions in a way she was not aware she could be.

She felt her father grab her in his arms, but Yang's fury was all ready shifting. Somewhere in the screaming and yelling the tears started. At some point the yells and screams turned from rage to sorrow. At some point, the crying started in earnest and despair set in.

Now she was nothing more than a daughter crying in the arms of her father. What she had lost... what had been truly lost beyond the limb was hitting her. She looked away from the bloody photograph to another picture frame, the one turned face down laying next to Ember Celica.

The picture was a simple snapshot Yang took in secret, had printed out and framed. It had one subject; Blake, reading a book while relaxing on a wide limb of a tree on the grounds of Beacon.

Thankfully she was not here to see this. Sadly, she was not here to comfort her.

Yang wailed, burying her face in her father's chest, wrapping her arms around him as best she could. Taiyang shushed her gently, rubbing her back.

"I'm a cripple... I fight with my fists and I only have one now! I can't be a Huntress... I'm useless. I'm just a burden. They left me behind..."

Her father continued to hold her, shushing her softly.

"Daddy... I'm... I'm done..."


	3. More Than Adequately Armed

Yang's eyes shot open in the faint light. She felt a world of pain all around her, down into the marrow of her bones. Her muscles screamed, broken bones throbbed and her eyes and skin burned. Yang felt the cool stone against her back. It was uncomfortable, yet comforting in that is was one of the few things in this forsaken place that was not hot.

Outside the storm howled and rain battered the domed roof of the modest desert dwelling. It was rustic, made of stone and plaster with cut stone forming the floor and fire pit. In the dim light of the few lamps bearing candles and the weak fire she could make him out, meditating on the floor in front of the simple hammock that was his bed.

Yang groaned, now fully aware of how much everything hurt. "I feel like death."

"And yet you are alive."

She tried to sit up, but had no strength for it. Yang laid still for a moment, breathing steadily. She could feel her heart pumping strong and true and her lungs working as they should. If only everything else would follow suit.

"How long was I out?"

"Five hours."

"It's been raining that whole time?"

"Yes."

Yang turned her head and looked at her teacher again. "May I have some water, Master?"

The man stood slowly from his meditation and walked to the far wall, lined with barrels and a simple sink. Yang could hear the trickle of water filtering into the barrels. He had thought of everything to make such an inhospitable place his home, including a sophisticated rain catching and filtration system. He grabbed a glass and filled it under the tap in the sink.

He walked over to her and held out the glass, waiting.

Yang sat up slowly, everything in her body telling her not to, but her thirst drove her on. She held out her hand and took the glass, bringing it to her cracked lips slowly, sipping at the water, easily fighting off the urge to guzzle it. She took a long, measured drink and lowered the glass from her lips, letting out a wet exhale.

How many things she once took for granted. Yang never enjoyed the simple taste of water; the simple sensation of something wet washing the dust out of her mouth and throat. Now, water tasted better than anything else she could recall.

He was watching her closely with world-weary yet sharp green eyes. He was always watching, like an eagle looking for weakness to prey upon. Yang would not show any. She took another long, disciplined sip. Her teacher and sat down on a small wooded stool by the slab of rock she was resting on.

"How do you feel now, Yang?"

"Alive."

Her teacher nodded slowly in approval. "This makes thirteen weeks you have trained with me; three full months of the hottest, worst weather Vacuo or the world has to offer. You have lost a lot of weight. Some of your more feminine charms have been stripped away."

Yang looked down at her top, her breasts a full two cup sizes smaller from cannibalizing her own body fat to survive. She had lost any hint of softness in her belly and her belt had to be worn a few holes tighter than when she started. Her pants would not stay up otherwise. Yang's beloved hair was frazzled and all split ends, her hand rough and worn. Her skin was leathery, faintly burnt and deeply bronzed from all the time in the sun.

She had not had a menstrual cycle in two months. Her body had shut that function down. Every bit of energy was put into just staying alive at this point. Just surviving this ordeal.

He swatted her in the chest, drawing a sharp inhale from Yang, her two broken ribs protesting mightily. Weeks ago, that would have taken her breathe away... now, it only hurt like hell. She clenched her teeth, but kept her lips together.

"How are the broken bones?"

Yang responded by taking another slow, deliberate sip. She lowered the glass, half of the water gone now, and looked her teacher in the eyes, her amethyst meeting his jade. "They hurt like a mother fucker."

"Fingers too?"

Yang nodded, lifting the glass as if to toast the sentiment, her hand managing to grasp it in spite of having three broken digits. She took a short sip, just a little, and lowered the glass from her lips. "They hurt more."

The man nodded. "Yang, we are entering into the next phase of your training. Do you think you are ready for it?"

"What are you going to do, fracture my skull and have me do math problems?"

He smirked. "That would be good training for recovering from a head injury, but no."

Yang looked him directly in the eyes, knowing full well breaking eye contact with him while having any discussion pertaining to her training would draw an hour run through the desert rain with a fifty kilogram Atlas military pack on her back. She set the glass aside, waiting.

"Had enough?"

She knew another sip would likely draw a punishment. He did all this on a single shot glass of water a day... half a glass plus a sip was likely more than he thought she deserved, but her teacher did not slap the glass away. By his inaction, she deserved exactly what she drank, but Yang knew not a drop more.

Yang nodded.

Her teacher stood. "Well then, let us begin."

Yang nodded, getting to her feet, her body furious with her, but still she stood. "Bring on the next lesson, Master."

He nodded, his expression humorless. Her teacher went to the door and opened it, the storm howling outside. He gestured into the storm wracked night.

"Let me get the military pack of rocks."

He shook his head, lifting a holstered magnum revolver from the rack by the door and pulling the weapon free. 'Vanquisher' was engraved into the side of the twenty-one centimeter weighted bull barrel, '.460 Magnum' on the large frame.

The revolver was massive, a true hand cannon made in the old fashion of blued steel and diamond-etched wooden grips. A simple set of sites rested atop the frame and barrel. It was a far cry from modern weaponry, but Yang knew Ruby would be in love.

She, however, was not so fond of the sight of the firearm.

He gestured Vanquisher toward the door while hanging the black leather shoulder holster and loaded bullet belt back up.

Yang went to the door, her feet bare, her pants tattered and her top sporting a few small and some not so small holes, one near the left edge of her bust. Her left nipple occasionally flashed through as she walked, but her teacher did not seem the least bit interested in her as a woman.

Only as a student.

She stood before him and turned, looking out the door. The covered pathway was dark. Yang walked along the stone hall, water draining down the steps up to the surface and into the drainage system he had setup.

Yang ascended the steps, shielding her face from the stinging rain, the howling wind whipping her hair about. She stopped at the top step and stared at what awaited her.

Snarling, furious and angry, a Beowolf fought against the chain holding it to a post. It was wild and mad from the battering it had taken in the storm, its murderous red eyes focusing on Yang. It snapped at her, pulling on the chain, but unable to get free.

Her teacher walked up around Yang and stood beside her.

"I thought something smelled like wet dog..." Yang looked at her teacher, her blonde hair quickly defying the wind as water soaked into it and stuck it to her back and the sides of her face. "I'll need Ember Celica."

"You still have much to learn about what it is to be a true Huntress."

Yang felt fear come back. "You've got to be fucking kidding me..." She almost choked on her words. "I can't kill that thing unarmed!"

"You are more than adequately armed for this." He cocked the hammer of Vanquisher, took aim with one hand and winked at her. "Get it?"

Yang once more, for the hundredth time, regretted ever using puns around him. "I have almost no Aura!"

"Almost none is far more than none; you know this. What spark you have will suffice. Spend it well."

Yang nodded once, now knowing full well what he expected of her.

"Your life is in your hand, Yang Xiao Long. I will not save you from this monster."

He pulled the trigger, the revolver booming louder than the mighty thunder of the storm, the shockwave coming off the barrel visible to her eyes. It sent pain through Yang's broken ribs and broken fingers as well as made her ears ring momentarily.

The taught chain shattered, the Beowolf lurching forward, quickly realizing it was free. It threw its head back and howled.

Yang's violet eyes grew wide as lighting rent the sky, illuminating them like purple mirrors as she prepared herself to fight for her life. She set into her stance and raised her fist.

"You sadistic bastard!"

Her teacher remained stone-faced and slowly stepped away, smoke still wafting from his revolver's barrel.

The Grimm rushed her and Yang closed the gap, ducking under a swipe of its viciously sharp claws and slamming her fist into its face, staggering it and filling her arm and shoulder with fire from her broken fingers. They set about to mortal combat in the raging storm, lighting flashing through the inky black clouds.

The Beowolf bore down on Yang, snarling and snapping, soaking wet. It reeked, its breathe hot and stinking of blood and rotten meat. Yang managed to evade strike after strike, connecting with her left hand into the beast's chest and mouth multiple times.

One swipe got through her defenses, cutting into her left shoulder, claws like knives rending her flesh in three shallow cuts. Blood quickly began to flow. Yang gasped, but kept fighting, knowing full well this was to the death. She rolled out from under three follow up attacks and kicked up both her feet into the Grimm's mouth, staggering it and sending it backpedaling as she flipped backward and to her feet again.

She rushed in as lightning flashed and unloaded a barrage of left hooks, each attack more reckless than the last. Each time her fist connected with the Beowolf's jaw pain shot up her wrist from her fingers and from her shoulder into her chest from the fresh cuts on her arm.

The beast tagged her again, this time across the right side of her abdomen, where her guard was most open. Her worn orange shirt was nearly ruined, torn and slowly staining with blood as the three cuts began to bleed in earnest.

Still Yang fought on, pulling on the small spark of Aura she had regained all the while focusing on her Semblance. Yang knew she would not get more than a fleeting moment or two before her Aura would give out again. The lack of food and water did not allow her to recovery properly.

Yang was kept at bay by the ravenous attacks of her foe. Another jolt of pain filled her body as she turned to evade an attack, three razors licking across the skin of her back, opening fresh wounds and letting more of her blood flow.

She moved into position and pushed through the Beowolf's fending claws, getting cut on her left thigh, this time deeply. Blood poured from the wound and dyed her khakis, but Yang would not be dissuaded. She screamed as the thunder boomed and lashed out her fist.

Her Semblance fired for a brief instant, her hair bursting into a bright orange, flames licking just off the split tips of her hair. Her eyes blazed red. Yang's left fist slammed into the Grimm's jaw and fractured it, knocking it completely free from the monster's skull and even tearing flesh and skin, teeth flying free into the night.

Yang took a deep breathe, standing inside the Grimm's open arms. Her left arm remained extended, pain filling her hand as another of her fingers had been broken due to her lack of Aura. The beast slowly fell backward into the wet sand, dead and rapidly disintegrating.

She had killed it with a single punch.

Her Aura was spent, her Semblance passing as her hair and eyes reverted to normal. Yang's face slowly panned over to her teacher, standing stoic in the driving storm. Her eyes met his, the lightning glinting them bright violet and viridian.

He was smiling, his beard, hair and clothing soaked.

"What are you?"

Her blonde mane was drenched and sticking to her face, shoulders and back. Yang's lungs pulled greedily for air. The fight was quick, but it had taken a heavy toll. She was not sure she would survive these wounds. Her blood ran slowly from lack of hydration, but flow it did.

"A Huntress."

"What are you going to do?"

Yang could feel her head going light as her arm came down. She did all she could to keep her shoulders from slumping, but the edges of her vision began to grow dark. A glance at her left leg should have chilled her. The pant leg sported a large red stain that only kept growing.

She stood fast in the face of her possible end.

"Keep... fighting."

"And?"

She sneered at him as the darkness began to overwhelm her vision.

"Survive."

Yang did not feel herself fall.


	4. Out of Reach

Yang hit the snowy ground and rolled, quickly springing to her feet and re-adopting her fighting stance, her left fist up and ready. The attacks came in rapid succession, high and mid and a couple low. She used her footwork to stay away from the low and mid attacks, her arm adequate for blocking the attacks that came in high.

Her boots were wet at the edges as the snow stained them. Across from her, Taiyang pressed his assault, using a wooden staff to train his daughter. She continued to evade and block until one of his attacks got through, tagging her lightly on the right side of her chest.

"Keep your guard up, Sweetie!"

Yang cursed herself under her breathe. She tried to block that one with her right arm. Her father did not abate, Yang continuing to move with him, keeping distance between them. They had been focusing on defensive training and general fitness for the past couple of weeks.

Taiyang started varying his attacks. "Switching up! Keep up your defense!"

She backpedaled as his attacks came in from new vectors and more frequently. She quickly changed stances, to the new one he was focusing on teaching her. It was very defensive, something Yang was not accustomed to.

Her father was insistent she learn it.

Another strike made it thought, whacking Yang in the side. She kept at it, trying the new guard stance, intercepting as best she could with the sides of her shins. The style focused on using her legs defensively along with movement. Her arms sole duty was to protect her upper body and head.

Offense as she understood it had no place in this style. Taiyang promised to teach the counters that made up the 'offense' of the style once Yang got down the basics of defending herself.

Yang felt like she was making progress learning the stance, but as quickly as confidence came in, so did another attack make it past her guard. She got hit on the thigh. A bit of impatience rose in her chest, but Yang tried to push it aside.

"Get those legs moving," Taiyang instructed as he pressed his attack. "You're doing well Sweetie, just keep it up."

More attacks came, Yang moving around the trunk of a tree to use positioning to her advantage. Taiyang responded accordingly, deftly moving about the tree and going for an opening. Yang blocked the attack, but the follow-up got through a smacked her in the mouth.

Yang's frustration finally got the better of her. She dropped the stance and rushed her father, her purple eyes alight with pent up aggression. Taiyang evaded her handily and whacked her on the back with the staff, Yang stumbling forward and falling face first into the snow.

"Yang, why did you abandon the stance?" Taiyang started, walking over. He leaned down and offered a hand.

She swatted her father's hand away, getting to her knees and then standing. Yang spat and ran the side of her fist over her mouth, cleaning off the snow, ice and a bit of dirt. "How the hell am I supposed to fight if I only ever learn to defend?! I thought you were going to teach me how to fight again?!"

"I am," Taiyang began, nodding. "We have to start from the basics, though. Your situation demands a whole new style and set of priorities in combat. I need to instill the fundamentals of a defensive, counter-based sty-"

"I don't want to fight defensively!" Yang's face was flustered from both effort and exacerbation. "I can't beat a Grimm to a pulp if all I ever do is protect myself."

Taiyang's expression softened. "Sweetie... if you don't learn to defend yourself properly, you may not get another chance to be a Huntress." He glanced at her right arm.

Yang caught it. She glowered, looked at her bandaged stub and clenched her teeth. "Damn it, Dad! Quit looking at it like that!"

"Yang, that is just a temporary setback. We can-"

"It's a disability and I'm fucking tired of it! I want my old style back!" Yang balled her hand into a fist. "I want to beat things into the ground with both hands! I know there are cybernetic combat prosthetics and once I get one-"

"Yang..."

She sneered. "What?! I don't even know why I have to do this! Once I get a good arm, maybe one with a gun built in or a rocket motor at the elbow, I'll just have to re-learn how to use that! I'll be back to two-fisting Grimm into the dirt in no time!"

Taiyang sighed. "Sweetie... those come from Atlas. They are the only ones who have mastered that level of fine motor control and built-in combat features on that durable of a prosthetic."

Yang was confused. "And? I still don't understand why I don't have one or haven't even had an appointment to see about getting fitted for one. I know I'm only in training, but I am going to be a Huntress."

"Yang," her father began, sounding more serious now, "that may not be an option anymore."

"What do you mean?"

Taiyang took a deep breath, leaning the training staff against the nearby tree. "Yang, Vale and Atlas are technically at war. Ever since that day communications have been set back a century and relations between Kingdoms have gotten steadily worse. Even if I pulled every string I could, without Ozpin, with things as they are, the best you'll get is a simple cybernetic prosthetic. Functional for everyday life, but no use in a fight."

Yang blinked a few times, her shoulders shaking. Soon, her entire body began to quake. Her face twisted into a mixture of anger and sadness. Nobody had ever bothered to tell her this.

It felt as if someone had driven a knife through her chest and out her back.

"Wha-what?"

"That level of combat prosthetic technology is found in Atlas alone... and they are, sadly, the enemy of Vale. It's out of reach." Taiyang took a few steps towards his daughter. "Yang..."

Yang began to inhale sharply, looking at her right arm. Her shaking became more pronounced. She did not want to believe it. She could not bear to believe it.

What did she ever do to deserve this? She tried to save a friend... that was a noble thing. It was the right thing.

Why was she deserving of such a cruel fate?

"You are going to have to learn how to fight with one arm... and even then, that may not be enough. I want you to know how to fight, but being a Huntress... that may be... beyond you."

Yang's temper boiled over. The young woman screamed at the tops of her lungs, filling the forest of northern Patch with her cries of anguish. She began punching the tree, hammering it as hard as she could, shaking it and causing bits of snow and ice to rain down from it.

She grew angrier and angrier, hitting the tree harder and harder, hard enough to hurt her fist and arm. The pain only fed her as her Aura protected her from the worst of her self-destructive tantrum. Soon her Semblance began to kick up, her eyes shifting to red, her hair starting to glow and burn.

The blows to the tree became more and more potent, rocking the upper branches violently, the creatures of the forest fleeing the area. Soon branches were cracking and falling, Yang screaming and howling through tears, pummeling her left hand into the tree's mighty trunk. The tree's bark cut through Aura and into her skin. Soon her hand began to faintly bleed. She only punched harder, rocking the tree to the core.

Suddenly, there was a loud crack above, a large branch breaking free and falling fast. Taiyang moved quickly, grabbing his daughter up and moving her out from under the falling branch. It slammed into the ground with a crash that could have been fatal.

Yang squirmed and lashed out, punching her father in the mouth, stunning him and knocking him back.

She quickly realized her actions, the red leaving her eyes in a blink, her hair turning back to blonde from burning gold. She blinked a few more times, watching the small stream of blood run down from the edge of her father's mouth.

Yang quickly felt small, useless and unworthy of her father's love and ceaseless efforts to help.

"Dad... Daddy..." Her voice broke, her eyes misting over. "I'm... I'm..."

"It's okay, Sweetie," her father assured, running a finger over the blood, cleaning it from his face. He did not seem shocked, sad or even upset. Just a little surprised. "I'm not mad at you... I understand." He smirked, a little blood on the right side of his teeth. "That's a mean left hook, Sweetie."

Yang sniffed, tears forming at the edge of her eyes. She recalled her single combat round at the Vytal Festival. She had done it again. She had hurt someone undeserving.

No, she knew what she saw.

Or did she?

Yang rubbed her eyes with her fist, internally cursing her lack of self control and how childish of an outburst she allowed herself to fall into. "I'm sorry..." Yang sniffed again, fighting off the urge to cry. "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I should have figured you saw a combat prosthetic as an option and told you otherwise sooner. This is my fault." Her father's hand fell upon her shoulder gently, squeezing. "Yang, do you want to take a break... or would you like to keep training?"

Yang shut her eyes tight, took a deep breathe and exhaled. She wanted to believe this was not her fault and to put it all out of her mind. She was desperate to. Yang adopted the defensive stance her father was teaching her and raised her left hand, forming a fist, her knuckles raw and a little bloody from punching the tree.

"I won't give up. I will be a Huntress... even if I have to do it with one arm tied behind my back."

"That's my girl. Yang?"

She opened her eyes, misty at the edges, and looked into her father's. He smiled warmly, picking the stick back up, the large branch laying on the ground behind him. There was something in his expression... something she had seen a lot in her life, but not so intensely as now.

It was right there in his blue eyes, but Yang had to hear it.

"Yes, Dad?"

"I'm proud of you."


	5. Our Greatest Weapons

"Cease your dreaming."

Yang's eyes parted open again, once more on her stone slab. The irony of it was not lost on her. She had been laid upon a cadaver's slab time and again to live or die in the past weeks, only to keep rising. She looked over at her teacher, sitting on his simple stool. His hands were stained dark green with herbal remedy likely mixed from the plants, flowers and roots of the desert.

The smell was almost sickening.

She looked down and found her body bare, save for her tight black shorts and the bandages wrapped around her. They included the wide set of bandages wrapped around her chest, covering what modesty she had left while also keeping covered the wounds on her back.

The bandages wrapped around her were stained the brown of dried blood and the dark green of herbal medicine. Her abdomen was wrapped as well as her upper left arm and shoulder. She paid particular attention to the bandages around her left thigh. They were as brown as green.

More so, the leg wound hurt very much.

"Had to stitch that one up." He gestured to a fish hook and fishing line sitting on the small table he had apparently brought over for this project. Next to it was the bowl of the remedy, the most powerful source of the stench.

"I suppose I should thank you."

He slapped the wound on her leg, sending pain up her thigh and into her pelvis like a bolt of lightning. Yang clenched her teeth and leered at him, not having the strength to raise her arm or lift her head.

"You are quite welcome."

She took a deep breathe and nodded.

"I see you broke another finger. That leaves the thumb."

Yang clenched her fingers slowly, enduring the dull pain of the previously broken digits, but feeling the full brunt of the fresh pain of the newly broken bone.

"You should see the other guy."

"Broke his jaw clean off."

"He got fresh. A lady has to defend her honor or people will talk."

Her teacher nodded. "Still with the humor, hmm?"

"Laughter is the best medicine."

"So I have heard."

The rest of the pain slowly began to set back in, Yang exhaling and looking back at the simple plastered ceiling. Somehow, she now felt even more battered and broken. It was not something she was sure was even possible when she was last conscious.

Funny how life continued to prove her wrong in the past few weeks and months.

"How long was I out this time?"

"Almost a whole twenty four. It is night."

"That explains why I'm so thirsty." Yang rolled her head over again, looking at the older man. "May I have some water, Master?"

He stood and went to the barrels and sink, picked up her glass, and filled it to just beneath the brim. Her teacher walked back over, sat down and offered the glass.

She would have to do the rest. Yang slowly pulled herself upright, her back filling with pain as she pulled her covered back wounds from the slab. She shifted around slowly, allowing her legs to dangle off the slab, exhaling from the shock nearly setting in. She clenched her fist and pounded it into the slab, using the pain in her fingers to flare her eyes and hair for a split-second.

Her Semblance allowed her to fend off the impending surrender of bodily shock.

"Casual use of your Semblance." He nodded in approval. "That takes control. Excellent control."

"Thank you , Master."

Yang's arm reached out, her bronze skin reddened. This was typical of the new, terrible normal of reoccurring bouts of dehydration. Yang could faintly recall the last time she urinated and when she did, she remembered how unpleasant it was. She took hold of the glass and her teacher let it go.

Through force of will her four broken fingers held onto the glass of water. Yang brought it to her lips and summoned all of her self control, only taking a moderate, measured sip.

He nodded slowly. "Good, is it not?"

Yang lowered the glass and nodded slowly in reply. The water was cool, possibly the sweetest should could ever recall water tasting. Her body screamed for her to drink it all as quickly as possible, but Yang would not abide.

"You want to guzzle it, don't you?"

"My body does." Yang took another slow, measured sip and brought the glass down. "I do not."

"Very good. You are the master of your body. It does not rule you." He observed her, his green eyes narrow, unflinching and always searching. "If your legs are broken?"

"I will walk."

"And if your feet at broken?"

"I will run."

"And if a dagger rests plunged into your lung?"

"I will take a nice, deep breathe."

"If your skull is cracked and your brain bruised?"

"I will still come up with witty shit to talk."

Her teacher nodded once again. "Very good. Do not merely ignore the pain; take dominion of it. You are the master of your body for it is the tool wielded by your will. Maintain your body if you can and do so well, but always get the job done no matter what shape you are in."

Yang took another modest sip of her water, bringing the glass down to half full.

He stood from his stool and walked over to a crate at another end of the dome. He opened it and pulled out a simple military ration pack clad in foil. Her teacher returned and held out the meal.

"It has been three days. It is time for some food."

She set her glass aside on the slab and slowly took the ration pack. Yang placed it on her lap and wedged an end against her injured thigh, grimacing, but pulling at the seal, slowly peeling the foil cover back and revealing the contents. Inside was a piece of hard tack bread, a bar of dried vegetable matter and a dusty pink bar of flavored protein.

Likely pork flavor but Yang could never tell until she had a bite or five. She hoped for pork. Both the beef and chicken ones were terrible. The fish bar, while salty, was not bad. She needed to maintain complete control.

Eating too fast would draw a punishment. Giving in to hunger was a gross lack of control.

"Yang."

She looked her teacher in the eyes. "Yes?"

"You killed a Beowolf. That is an act of a Huntress, of a woman who earns her keep and pulls her weight in society. A woman who is no burden."

"All I want is to be useful. I never want to be a burden on anyone ever again."

"I believe you and, more importantly, you believe you." He nodded. "That glass of water and ration pack are your pay for killing that Beowolf. I will not interfere with your meal and drink because they are your property, not mine." He stood up and stared down at her, his nose slightly upward. "Do not disappoint me, however."

Yang glared up at him, her amethyst eyes defiant. "I won't disappoint myself, Master."

The edges of her teacher's mouth turned upward ever so slightly within his facial hair. "Good. Eat your fill and drink all that water. Get some sleep. Tomorrow, we go hunting."

"Weapons?"

He shook his head, smiling wider. "What are we?"

"Our greatest weapons."

He nodded, Yang fully understanding he was expecting her to repeat that performance.

"You have come far enough I will offer. Do you wish to know my name?"

Months ago, even weeks ago, Yang might have cared. Now, she could care less. "No."

"Very well. You may ask it of me should you desire, though you are right to think it irrelevant."

She picked up the vegetable bar, dry and likely old. The ration was undoubtedly Vacuo military surplus. Vacuo's rations were notorious for having not quite enough calories and being terribly flavored. Yang bit into it slowly, breaking off a small piece. She started chewing, her teacher walking away and sitting on the floor in front of his hammock, adopting a meditation position.

Come to think of it, did he ever once use that hammock in the past weeks? Maybe while she was completely unconscious? Yang put it from her mind.

Yang ate slowly and in measured bites, sipping at her water lightly, making it last and getting down every last, delicious bit of her stale military ration. She had never remembered dried soy bean and pork-flavored protein tasting so much like fresh greens from the garden and crunchy breakfast bacon.

True to his word, her teacher did not interfere, even when she dabbed a spit-wet finger into the container to get every last crumb and bit of flavoring dust. When she finally concluded her meal and laid back down to sleep, Yang slowly realized she had never felt so satisfied with the fruits of her labor.

Dangerous as it was, someone was willing to pay her for her services as a Huntress. Meager as it was, she had earned her keep.

Yang slipped from consciousness with a faint smirk on her face.


	6. A Fearless Lion

Yang roused slowly, the faint sound of shouts in the distance. She looked at the door to her room, noticing the orange glow playing upon it. She pulled herself up at the waist, pushing down the blanket and sheet. Yang blinked a few times and turned, looking out the window opposite the door.

Outside her bedroom window the forest of northern Patch burned.

She got to her feet quickly and ran to the dresser, wedging Ember Celica against the wooden furniture with the stub of her right arm. Yang forced her left hand into the bracelet and lifted it, jerking her arm downward, deploying the gauntlet.

The door to her room slammed open, her father standing in the doorway. His skin was slick with sweat, his blonde hair slightly frazzled. Blood ran down the right side of his face, his chest rising and falling in controlled, but deep breathes. His gauntlets, similar to Yang's, but a style all his own, were on his forearms.

One gauntlet was stained with blood near the knuckles.

"Have they come to finish the job, Dad?"

Taiyang nodded grimly. "It's time to put your training to the test. I have sent a message to your Uncle Qrow. He is on the way, but we need to leave the house. The fire is approaching and the authorities have Signal on lockdown. We will be getting no other help this far out."

Yang stood tall in her black shorts and orange top, her hair unruly from sleep, but her eyes bright and her expression stoic. She raised her gauntlet for her father to see. "I am ready to kick some ass. How far down am I on the Xiao Long family score board tonight?"

Her father smiled wide with a glint of paternal pride in his blue eyes, a bit of blood on his white teeth. "Let's call it eight. Want me to spot you a few, Sweetie?"

"Hell no."

He motioned his head towards to the hall. "We are heading for the northern coast of Patch. Together we can handle them until Qrow arrives. Then, we kick them out of our forest and off the island. This is our home."

Yang nodded, eager to get back into the action. She had been training hard for nearly two months. In her mind, she had come a long way.

Her father practically flew from the doorway into the house, Yang chasing after him. She kept pace with him into the hall, through the kitchen and out the front door.

As she left the home, a few steps behind Taiyang, she found the tree line an inferno, the flames in the canopies of leaves. She felt the slightest twinge of sadness as her childhood home was burning all around her, but there was a fight to win.

Shouts went up from the tree line, a small handful of dead White Fang laying in the grass between them and the forest. Four Wing Fang fighters broke from the shadows and the twilight of the flames, closing to intercept them. Two went to a knee and started shooting their rifles in controlled bursts.

Yang sped up and fell into formation alongside her father. She raised her fist and ran through the incoming gunfire, rounds ricocheting off her gauntlet as well as off her Aura. Her father ran headlong with rounds pattering off his body, relying purely on his Aura.

His expression was one she had never seen on his face. A steel-eyed ferocity.

Yang knew it had been ages since her father had fought and longer still since he undertook a mission. Some called him a coward, but she knew if anything ever came for something he truly cared for, in him was a fearless lion.

Today was that kind of day.

The two that came to meet them in battle quickly realized the error of their choices. Taiyang punched his foe with a haymaker in an unbroken run, the loud report of the short barrel high caliber rifle built into his gauntlet echoing into the forest. His foe was sent straight into the ground dead on arrival, a bullet hole in his mask and a pool of blood forming under his head.

Yang's foe lasted a split second longer, the young woman jumping up and slamming both feet in her enemy's chest, pining him to the ground. She brought down her fist in two quick punches, a shotgun report booming each time. The White Fang fighter's legs shook violently as he passed from life.

Yang rolled off and leapt back into a run, keeping pace. Killing was not something she ever imagined doing lightly, but she never imagined her home being lit on fire and assassins coming to kill her, either. It troubled Yang for a fleeting moment.

They had brought this on themselves by coming here and doing this. She would not be sorry.

The shooters got back to their feet and began to fall back, still firing in controlled bursts.

Taiyang thrust his arms forward in rapid succession, shadow boxing at full run, boom after boom of his short barrel rifles going off. One of the White Fang was riddled with a half dozen high-caliber Dust rounds, rocking with each impact. Aura saved him for the first two but the last four tore holes through him in sprays of crimson mist. He dropped his rifle and slumped down into the grass.

Yang reached her target and grabbed her rifle, wrenching it aside and slamming her head into the White Fang fighter's face, cracking her mask and knocking her back. She whirled and smashed the polymer stock of the rifle across the woman's head, sending her tumbling away into a tree and destroying the weapon. Yang took back off at a full run, tossing the shattered rifle aside, leaving their assailants behind them dead or unconscious.

They dashed through the burning forest, hurdling the roots and logs. Around them branches fell covered in flames. An eerie orange glow filled the night, the heat of the flames around and above oppressive. On they pushed, passing through a clearing, the fire having not yet reached it.

Around them a dozen White Fang fighters closed in, springing from ambush. Gunshots rang out and steel flashed, the host closing in from all around.

Taiyang spun around his daughter, his mastery of the art of battle clear for all to see. His fists flashed, booming rifle reports echoing around the clearing. Before the ring could close, two of their enemy fell.

Yang would not be outshined by her old man, her left arm working overtime, hammering out blast after blast of Dust-laced buckshot. She drove more than one foe to ground with her flaming, scattering attacks. One White Fang caught most of a spread of buck square to the chest and was hurled back into the tree line trailing flames.

The first axe came flashing down, Yang's leg shooting upward, slamming her dirt and grass stained bare foot into the enemy's chin. Her follow-up was swift and brutal, a punch of her gauntlet topped with a shotgun blast square to the stomach, causing her enemy to bowl over and drop his weapon.

Yang's elbow whipped back around, cracking the White Fang fighter's mask and sent him to the ground.

Father and daughter descended into the bloody work of melee combat, their blonde hair, yellow gauntlets and flashing fists whirling about them. Gunshots filled the night, the shotgun and rifle reports sounding like a firefight. The White Fang fought boldly, their axes, swords and knives whirling about the Xiao Longs.

A blade cut Taiyang through Aura shallowly, his blood splattering on a White Fang mask before his fist followed. Faunus blood sprayed out the back of the attacker's head as a Dust round punched through.

Yang maintained her defensive stance, punishing any and all who came too close. Within seconds she claimed two more tally, her gauntlet sprayed across the guard with the blood of a defeated foe. She grabbed the next arm bearing a weapon that came too close, twisted it away and drove her foot into the exposed limb, breaking it.

What was once so difficult for her to embrace Yang now employed with gusto. The defensive style her father had spent the past two months teaching her was paying off. Her hand and foot speed had rose considerably and the array of counters Taiyang taught her were just what she needed to fight effectively with a single arm.

Another blade flashed, cutting a small bit of Yang's hair and reaching through her Aura, cutting her right arm. Her head whipped about to find the offending individual, her hair flaring up and her eyes turning red.

Yang's retribution was swift, twelve gauge and went straight to the throat. The White Fang fighter died before he hit the tree Yang sent him flying into.

Behind her, his back facing her back, Taiyang reaped a greater toll. Each fall of his gauntlets spelled doom. His vest, shirt and shoulder guard were stained with the blood of his foes. Taiyang's gauntlet barrels smoked and glowed bright red, leaving mystic waves of neon red light and gray smoke as his hands weaved a tapestry of death and pain.

It was a master class on unarmed combat. A sight the world had likely not seen since Summer Rose lived. Something Yang caught fleeting flashes of. It filled her with pride for her father and a slight sense of confidence, knowing he was watching her back.

Knowing this man, if any, could teacher her what she needed to learn to achieve her goal of becoming a Huntress on one arm alone.

More White Fang rushed in to support their comrades, their courage admirable by any standard, but the Xiao Longs broke them like a rock broke the waves. Within two minutes, it was over.

Yang and Taiyang stood winded in their stances, bleeding each from a number of superficial wounds that managed to sneak through their strong Auras. Their gauntlets wafted smoke, the barrels of Taiyang's still bright cherry red from heat.

Around them laid twenty or more dead, dying or unconscious White Fang.

The fire had finally reached the clearing, casting a glow over father and daughter. He turned first, her a split-second later, each making sure the other was in good health. Taiyang's cold expression warmed for a moment, his hands searching over Yang's head and shoulders. He ruffled her glowing hair, heedless of the embers licking across his hand and smirked.

"You did great, kid!"

Yang smiled, her eyes cooling to purple and her hair ceasing to burn. She noted the cut on his upper left arm and reached out to it, pushing the split cloth open, a bleeding wound greeting her. She looked into his blue eyes, slightly concerned in spite of the fact she had a couple of nicks of her own.

"I'm fine, Sweetie. It'll take more than that to stop your father."

"Getting slow, huh old man?" Yang smirked wide, her father tilting his head and smirking back.

"You little..."

Yang laughed.

"Come on, we need to get north."

Taiyang turned and ran into the tree line, the flames approaching. Yang followed after, the two of them going further north than her father ever allowed a young Yang or Ruby to venture. After five more minutes of running they passed the old shack, the young woman looking towards it as they went.

It had been a long time since she had been here. Last time, she and young Ruby nearly met their end. The memory passed quickly. Hopefully Qrow was soon to arrive just like that day.

They started moving down hill, the flames consuming the forest here as well. Surprisingly, there were no Grimm. The fire had likely driven them away, to the south of Patch. Yang began to smell the ocean on the night breeze. They were getting close.

Both broke the from forest to the open fields of northern Patch, the dark ocean in the distance. What waited for them, however, stopped both in their tracks two steps out of the tree line.

Multiple armed Bullheads skidded above the beach, their rotary cannons trained on them. Lined up in the field were at least three dozen White Fang, each one armed with a firearm or a melee weapon.

Who was immediately before them, however, was who drew Yang's ire.

She was sitting on a rock in the middle of the field, a self-satisfied smile on her face, her umbrella open and over her shoulder. The woman's brown and pink hair shifted as she tilted her head, the breeze fluttering in softly. She blinked, her eyes turning from brown and pink to pink and brown.

"You..." Yang growled, raising her left arm and balling her hand into a shaking fist.

"She a friend of yours, Sweetie?" Taiyang asked, surveying the force arrayed against them.

Neopolitan drew the handle from her umbrella and placed the blade of the knife to her neck, the steel glinting in the moon light. She drew it slowly, just off her skin, while looking into Yang's eyes, her grin turning wide and sadistic.

Yang growled, her teeth clenched and bare. Neo's intent could not be more clear.

"Not a friend," Taiyang surmised with a nod. He took a step forward and looked up at the Bullheads, their spotlights falling on him and bathing the man in harsh whiteness. "All right, someone here owes us seven hundred trees, a house and an apology!"

The firing line in the middle of the White Fang fighters raised their rifles in unison, training their weapons on Taiyang.

"I guess that's a no. Sweetie, watch your old man work." Taiyang set into his stance, raising his fists and preparing to fight a small army without the slightest bit of doubt.

Normally, Yang would have been equally confident in her father's abilities, but something felt very wrong to her.

Neo smirked, replaced the handle and lowered her umbrella, imposing it between her and the Xiao Longs. Taiyang took aim at her first, punching his right arm outward. Yang opened her mouth to warn her father, but she also turned reflexively.

The report of the gunshot filled her ears and she could see the flash of Neo running out from the tree line behind them. Yang knew it was a ruse. She moved to intercept and threw out a punch as Neo approached and pulled her blade.

Neopolitan's smile was wicked and wide, her blade parrying away Yang's Ember Celica. The shotgun shell went off as it slid over the sword, missing Neo close enough to rustle her hair as the shot passed. This play of Neo's was no surprise and Yang could hold her off long enough.

What took Yang by surprise was the blur of black, red and white that flashed past her left.

Taiyang jumped in place, a red blade sticking out from his chest, wet with his blood. Against his back, both hands on Wilt, stood Adam. His mask focused on Yang.

"Did you think I would forget?" Adam shook his head. "Next time I see Blake, I will have both halves of your weapon to show her."

The blonde woman opened her mouth to scream, her father's face twisting to pain and surprise at the weapon lodged in his upper body. Adam's hands flexed on the handle of his blade as Yang's full attention was moved to him. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Neo's follow-up attack.

It did not matter. She had to help her father. Her fist came up. "Daddy!!!"

An explosion filled Yang's ears, the plains and shore line lighting up. One of the Bullheads had lost an engine and the fuel compartment lit up, flames licking over the engine housing. Standing on the falling aircraft was the silhouette of a man bearing a scythe that glinted in the moonlight, his cloak fluttering on his back.

Qrow had arrived.

The White Fang scrambled as the aircraft came down above them. Fire and fragments of metal rained amongst their ranks.

Adam twisted the blade, drawing a jolt from Taiyang as the elder Xiao Long's left arm came around and rested on Yang's shoulder. A clash of metal met her ears, Neo's killing blow stayed, and was followed by the report of Taiyang's gauntlet going off.

Neopolitan scattered away, a hole in her umbrella and a graze on her left cheek from where the rifle round passed. A thin line of blood streaked down her face from the shallow wound. Her expression went from sadistic to furious.

Adam moved his arms to finish Taiyang with a cut through his upper body, but his arms shook at the last moment. Taiyang's grip was firmly on the sword through his body.

Yang snapped out the near-paralysis of fear she felt and screeched, hurling a punch at Adam. The man deftly moved out from under the attack and kept a hand on his blade. The blonde woman wound up for another attack when the Bullhead hit the ground beyond them and went up in a massive explosion of ordnance and fuel.

Shrapnel and larger pieces of metal scythed through the fleeing White Fang, killing and maiming a handful. They went into full retreat towards the coast line. Qrow came down on a White Fang straggler scythe first and stood quickly from his kill with a bloodied blade, running for the Xiao Longs.

"Hold on!" Qrow shouted, cutting down another White Fang fighter in passing.

Yang was determined to get Adam away from her father, the blood stain on his shirt and vest around the wound in his chest and back growing quickly. She swung again, Adam blocking with his left arm and paying no heed to the buckshot, his Aura protecting him. Yang attacked again, only this time she felt the acute pain of a sword cutting her left leg.

A boot struck Yang in the back of the head and she went down in a heap, Neo standing over her. Yang screamed as she raised her gauntlet to take a shot, Neo winding up to attack her father as Adam circled back behind him.

A flash of black, purple and red filled the corner of Yang's eyes. A long blue katana blade cut through the air, ripping through Neo's parasol as she dodged away reflexively.

Adam got his hands back on his blade, Taiyang still holding the front half, but now also holding the back half near the hand guard in his other gauntlet. He allowed Adam to retrieve the weapon, but it went right back through the hole it had all ready made.

The blue katana blade flashed around Neopolitan twice more, the petit woman evading and seeming to focus purely on defense as an unmasked Raven attacked her. The lace of Neo's coat was cut and fell from her, frozen with elemental Dust.

Taiyang turned to face Adam, only to watch as Qrow engaged him. Quickly, the ambush fell apart, too many actors on stage for the White Fang and their erstwhile ally to continue with their current numbers.

Neo swept up alongside Adam, both of them backing away from the Branwens and readying their weapons. Qrow readied his scythe and charged, swinging for Neo. A wall of glass stained pink, brown, black, red and white shattered around him, his foes nowhere to be found.

The remaining White Fang loaded onto the Bullheads as their rotary cannons opened up, laying down covering fire. Qrow and Raven strode forward, deflecting the rounds with their flashing blades of cobalt and silver.

Taiyang dropped to a kneel and shielded his daughter with his body. Yang grabbed her father in her arm, her eyes wide with fear as tracers streaked around them through the night, the roar of the rotary cannons nearly deafening. At some point, his weight fell upon her.

He was unconscious.

His last act was to put his body between her and danger.

Yang's mind raced. The only thing she could grasp was how afraid she was. Not because of the shooting, but because of all the blood that rubbed off of him onto her face and hand.

The fire tapered off and halted a few seconds later, the Bullheads pulling off and retreating over the ocean and into the night. The field was strewn with a half-dozen dead White Fang.

It was a rarity for them to abandon their dead. They had been well and truly spooked by the arrival of Qrow, Raven or perhaps both.

Yang got to her knees and rolled her father onto his back. He was still breathing, but was bleeding profusely. She retracted her gauntlet and placed her hand on his wound, desperate to staunch the flow.

There was nothing for her to compare the fear and sorrow she felt at that moment. Her arm was nothing next to this. Everything was nothing next to this panic and sheer despair. Yang could not lose him.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

He could not abandon her too.

Yang could not take that.

She was not strong enough to endure this too.

"Daddy?!"

Qrow and Raven turned, looking at each other, then to Yang and Taiyang. They replaced their weapons, Raven's katana within her heavy scabbard of blades and Qrows transformed back into a sword. No words were exchanged between brother and sister, Yang wailing over her father as she broke down and cried, watching his blood pour out around her fingers.

The blood would not stop flowing.

She could not save him.

"No! No Daddy! Daddy please!" Her purple eyes shimmered with wetness, tears streaming down her cheeks. She began to sob heavily. "No! Daddy! Please! Please!"

Raven sighed once and motioned her head to the south-east.

"Fine," Qrow stated plainly, agreeing to some unspoken proposition. "I can't believe this..."

A firm hand fell upon Yang's shoulder, turning her. The blonde woman's tear-streaked face looked up to meet a stern visage that mirrored her own. Purple eyes curtained with unruly blonde locks met red eyes bracketed by a shiny black mane.

This was never how Yang envisioned finally meeting Raven.

Somehow, though, her being here gave Yang a spark of hope.

"Mom... help... please..."

Raven thrust the handle of her sword into Yang's gut, taking her wind. Shock gave way to despair before another thrust between the eyes took her consciousness.


	7. Predator Born

The cold of the night weighed on Yang as she opened her dry eyes from a long blink. She and her teacher ran through the desert gloom, the shattered moon above in the clear sky. The ground had dried in spite of the recent rains, the top of the soil cracked and curled upward like the skin on Yang's hand. Their boots fell lightly, only faintly disturbing the curled sheets of sand and dirt.

Yang left behind her jacket in spite of the cold, opting for freedom of movement. Above the waist she wore only bandages. Her tight black shorts were lightly soaked with sweat. Around her waist was a brown leather belt with pouches for provisions, her teacher adding to it as she earned a reward. Her fingers throbbed under their wrap, her teacher accepting her request to wrap her fist and forearm for the hunt.

Her entire body was lightly covered in the red sand of Vacuo. They had been at this all morning, day and were now continuing without meaningful rest well into the night The fragmented moon was all ready high, the time likely past midnight.

Through the day they had run half the pack of Beowolves to ground, her instructor stepping back and keeping those seeking escape corralled while Yang engaged them. She killed five thus far, each one with a fatal, single punch or kick to the head, breaking jaws, cracking skulls and caving in snouts or eye sockets.

Yang could not recall a time she felt so strong.

The previous night's meal and water had rejuvenated her body and Aura in a way she was not sure was possible. Her injuries persisted, the pain not abating, but Yang felt like she had control over her body in spite of all her wounds, broken bones and the weariness of her physique. More so, though, her Semblance would flare and pass as needed.

The wrap on her hand and forearm were lightly stained with the blood of Grimm. Aside that which was dried in the bandages of her wounds, Yang had not bled a drop.

She reached into a large pouch on her belt, pulling out a Vacuo military canteen. Yang opened it with her thumb and took a small sip of the water within. The hundred or so grams of water at her leisure to drink was her justly earned reward for her fourth and fifth kill. She replaced the metal container quickly

Yang's body needed more, but she wanted only a little.

Her teacher pointed out ahead of them, his white shirt lightly soaked with sweat. Like Yang his entire body was covered with red sand. His black boots kicked up more sand as he sped up, his blue jeans held up by a black leather belt. Over his shoulder was a black satchel, within that the small rewards he doled out to Yang as her payment.

Around his chest was his black leather holster and bullet belt. He had brought his revolver and plenty of ammunition as precaution, but true to his intentions for the hunt, had not used it once.

He was leaving the actual fighting to Yang.

Yang kept pace with him, her leg muscles protesting from running most of the day, but she pushed on, forcing her body to obey her will. In the distance they could see the pack once more now down to six members. Leading them was a large Alpha.

As they closed the gap he raised his hand and motioned forward decisively. Yang nodded and pushed her body harder, speeding past her teacher and closing the considerable distance between him and the pack. She clenched her teeth, her violet eyes narrowing on the stragglers.

The Huntress sped through the desert night like a predator cat closing on a herd of prey. She neared the Grimm and spotted her opportunity coming up fast. She closed the fingers of her left hand hard, eliciting pain from her four broken digits. Her teeth grit and her hair ignited, her eyes reddening. She hit top speed and ran up a small rock formation, cracking the top of it with a powerful jump that propelled her high into the night.

Yang came down on the Beowolf in the midst of the pack like a golden comet. She slammed her fist and feet into its back, breaking the beast's spine and nearly caving its rib cage, killing it instantly. The shockwave of her landing sent the rest of the pack and a cloud of sand sprawling.

The Grimm slowly got to their feet, looking to their Alpha. The Alpha Beowolf began to approach Yang, snarling. The rest of the pack followed the monster's lead, drawing closer and circling the Huntress.

She stood slowly, grinning ear to ear. Her eyes glowed red in the night and her golden hair billowed with fire enough to cast faint light around her. Yang raised her hand, looking directly into the equally infernal eyes of the Alpha, and motioned him towards her.

"Bring it."

The Alpha stood on his hind legs, threw his head back and howled. The remaining five of his pack rushed in on Yang all at once, the pack like a single organism when on the hunt or in defense. The black and white wolves closed in on the feminine torch.

Yang Xiao Long set about dealing death.

The first wolf to reach her got an elbow to the jaw, shattering it utterly and scattering teeth to the desert ground. The next met with a whipping roundhouse kick, caving in its skull and sending it flying past the Alpha and into the red sands of Vacuo.

The third met its end with a punch so hard Yang felt every single bit of pain her fingers had to impart upon her, only fueling her Semblance in spite of the strength of her Aura. The fourth Beowolf managed to lay his claws upon the young woman, only to find no purchase past her Aura. She spun around and slammed her fist in the monster's face, breaking both its eye sockets and the red orbs within. The Grimm flew backward and landed in a convulsing heap, slowly withering away.

The fifth attempted to bite into Yang's neck, only to have its open jaw seized by her hand. Her furious visage fell upon the beast, the monster whimpering in fear. Yang wrenched her arm, tearing the jaw completely free from the Grimm. The monster collapsed at her feet and made a few pitiful noises before it died and disintegrated.

Within 20 seconds, she managed to do what it had taken all day.

Yang was feeling it now. Her Semblance was stronger than she could recall and practically at her beck and call. These creatures, lacking Auras, had nothing to save them from her wrath.

The Alpha howled again and charged. Now came the real test. It had greater reach, speed, toughness and strength. Yang moved backward. The Alpha pushed on, the woman with the blazing hair weaving, skirting and ducking the flurry of blurred attacks as they came in.

When one attack got particularly close, Yang interposed her forearm, her Aura and physical might aided by her Semblance allowed her to stop the attack clean. The Alpha reacted in a flash, going in for a bite and the kill, only to have his lunge met prematurely by Yang's forehead to under his jaw. The beast's mouth snapped shut and the Alpha went staggering back.

"My turn," Yang replied darkly.

She flexed her fingers, the red glow or her irises now encompassing the entire eyeballs. Her eyes cast a fearsome radiance that reflected faintly on the tops of her bronzed cheeks and off the bridge of her nose in the night.

Yang's attacks were as furious and fast as the Alpha's, the beast quickly backpedaling, but never fully yielding. Her fist flashed like a white and flesh-tone wing of a furiously buzzing wasp. The Alpha Beowolf took dozens of strikes to the chest, head and forearms before it finally raised its guard.

Yang wound up for one final, punishing blow when the Grimm lunged again.

Directly into her trap.

Yang used the backward momentum of her arm to spin back and away. She came off the ground, her boot lashing up across the Grimm's face in a lightning-fast roundhouse.

The Alpha's head snapped around a full ninety degrees to a sickening crack. Yang landed on her feet in a puff of red sand and immediately raised her guard. She watched as the last of the pack slumped to its knees and them forward into the desert sands dead with a broken neck.

The glint of some of its teeth landing in the distance caught Yang's eye as the Alpha began to slowly smoke and disintegrate.

Yang stood victorious in the desert night amongst the dead pack without a single fresh cut or wound. She was filled with energy and Aura, her Semblance still alight. Her hair billowed and burned faintly, casting off embers and radiance.

Yellow beauty, burning gold.

"Excellent work young Huntress!"

She snapped her gaze around over her shoulder, her hair and eyes cooling to their normal blonde and violet hues. She smirked at her teacher, the man standing on the rock formation she had put that new crack into. She gave him a thumbs up over her shoulder, ignoring the pain of her fingers.

Her teacher nodded, the faintest of smirks visible on his whiskered face, the moonlight making his green eyes almost reflective. He raised his right arm slowly and pointed to the horizon. "I see more tracks! Are you ready to hunt another pack?! This one is larger! And with a far for dangerous Alpha!"

Yang could feel the weight of exhaustion and lack of sleep on her. Her fingers were newly aggravated and the wound on her left thigh bleeding fresh into her sandy bandage. She was certain the wounds on her back had begun to seep anew as well. Her body screamed and protested at the very notion of even tracking another herd for sport, much less killing them unarmed.

Her body yearned for water, for food, perhaps even for a caring touch and, most of all, for sleep. Yang's mortal coil pleaded with her with all the pain, weight and weariness it could muster.

He seemed to sense it, even at that distance. Even at night. "Your body protests, does it not?!"

"My body will do what I tell it to!" Yang affirmed with a shout, imposing her willpower over her body in spite of all that was mustered against it. She energized herself with a thought and almost instantly dulled the worst of the pain away.

Yang turned and looked to the horizon, gesturing to it grandly. "Why are we just sanding around, Master?! Lead the way!"

Her teacher nodded slowly in approval, apparently no so annoyed by her puns today. "Yang Xiao Long, you are learning what it is to be a true Huntress! There may be hope for you yet! Keep pace and I shall instruct you on the finer points of tracking!"

He took off running into the night.

She smirked, a slight bit of weight coming off her shoulders at his generous compliment and offer to teach her a useful skill. She chased off after him, eager for a fresh hunt, quickly closing the gap and coming up alongside her teacher.

They ran through the night, Hunter and Huntress.

Yang Xiao Long was indeed a Huntress now. She knew it to be fact. The proof was there in her bosom and blood, powerful and true.

In Yang's chest beat the heart of a predator born.


	8. Abandoned

Yang came to slowly, the first thing to greet her the darkness and the dull ache in her head from a blow right between the eyes. She felt the pain of her wounded leg come on next, reminding her immediately of Neo. Then came the realization her father was dying.

She shot up in the cool gloom and looked around, her eyes still adjusting.

She was in a room, that much she could determine. There was no heat but it was not too cold. The bed beneath her was a simple cot with a sheet and flat pillow. As she put her feet on the cold floor and put her weight on them, her leg injury protesting. Her legs buckled, Yang groaning. She steadied herself with her left hand and realized Ember Celica was gone and that her wounded calve was bandaged with care.

As she pushed herself to her feet Yang exhaled, realizing she could not put too much weight on her wounded leg. She limped forward, able to make out the shapes of simple furniture in the darkness. The room had no window, but a faint sliver of light entered the black from under the closed door. Yang hobbled to the door, placed her hand on the knob and turned it, leaning into it slowly.

The next room was modest and dimly lit by a fireplace on the left wall. There were bookshelves fully stocked, but she could not make out any of the titles. Amongst the books were a few items she paid little attention to. There were a pair of leather chairs, between them a table bearing what looked to be an old fashioned phonograph.

On the stonework above the fireplace was the head of a Alpha Beowolf mounted as a trophy. Under it hung an early Dust firearm, a musket of some form with a faintly glowing Red Dust crystal still snapped tight in the metal firing mechanism. Beneath both items was a fine wooden banister bearing small items she did not focus on.

The windows along the wall with the fireplace were covered over with curtains. There was light beyond them, but it was blocked from entering the room.

What caught her attention next chilled her to the bone, her purple eyes growing wide, tears almost coming to them again.

The table near the fireplace was cleared of whatever was on it, the wooden piece of furniture covered in blood. Dry or not, Yang could not tell. She hobbled to the table as quickly as her wounded leg could carry her, using her hand to steady herself when she reached the leather chair near the table.

Bloody bandages and rags were all over the floor, a spool of surgical thread and various surgical tools scattered about on the edge of the table. Her eyes fell upon the bloody vest and shirt balled up on the floor nearby.

The blood soaked clothes were her father's.

"Daddy..." Yang choked out, fighting back tears as her mind raced. "Daddy!"

Through her despair her instincts told her eyes were on her back. Yang turned in place.

Standing between her and the room she exited was a woman in a red and black kimono, her crimson eyes focused squarely on Yang. Her curly hair was as black as the coat of her namesake. No emotion was on her face, Yang's quickly growing more desperate as she leaned back against the couch, trying control her emotions.

"Mom!"

Raven's eyes narrowed, almost threateningly.

"Where's Dad?!" The tears were welling up at the edges of Yang's amethyst eyes, her mental state frantic. She had to know and right now.

Her mother's expression did not change at the question. She picked up a small khaki-colored pack on a table by the door to the room Yang awoke within.

"Mom! Talk to me!" Yang started to cry proper, needing to know her father's fate. "I searched for you for so long... but Dad... where is he?" Yang almost broke down as the thought crossed her mind. "Please, he's not dead is he?" Yang's voice trembled. "Mom..."

Raven threw the pack at Yang with a severe, aggressive movement of her arm. It hit Yang in the chest and fell to the ground at her feet. Raven's eyes narrowed further, a faint hint of a disgusted sneer tugging at the edge of her lips.

"Mom! You left me when I was so little!" Yang started to cry almost uncontrollably, sobbing between her words. "And now... where is Dad?!"

Her mother merely pointed at the pack on the floor at Yang's feet.

"Damn it Mom!" Yang clenched her fist and slammed it into the chair behind her, knocking it into the table behind it. The table tumbled over, scattering the surgical tools onto the stonework before the fireplace. "Talk to me! Stop ignoring me!"

Raven gestured to the pack once more, her red eyes widening slightly. Displeasure played across her features if oh so faintly.

Yang opened her mouth to speak, but all that left her lips was a furious, howling cry of anguish. Her mother would not speak and, more so, she looked unimpressed and very displeased. Yang knew not the fate of her father, her mother refusing to even confirm his demise. Her sorrow turned to rage, Yang paying no heed to her leg and charging.

She wound up and swung at her mother, only to have her arm snatched by the wrist. Raven ducked the blow and moved behind her daughter, twisting her arm and letting the young woman's momentum carry her into the table. Yang's face smacked into the wall, shaking the shadowy paintings hanging on it.

Raven's foot slammed mercilessly into Yang's leg wound, drawing a pained scream from her. The younger woman's blonde hair lit aflame, her eyes becoming as red as her mother's. In spite of her Semblance activating, Raven held fast to her wrist, twisting it further, sending pain up Yang's arm.

Yang slammed her head backwards, only to find nothing but air and a leg tucked behind her good one. She flipped backward to the floor with a thud, her arm still in her mother's hand and her shoulder now twisted and pained. She looked up at Raven, the dark-haired woman staring back down. Yang opened her mouth, only to be cut off by a kick to the ribs and then a stomp on her chest.

The pain was immediate and terrible.

One of her ribs cracked under her mother's assault. The wind was taken from Yang, the younger woman becoming desperate for air, her hair and eyes cooling to normal in an instant. Her mother knelt down on her chest, looking her in the eyes, still keeping hold of Yang's remaining forearm.

They remained that way, in relative silence, Yang desperately trying to regain her breathe. After a few moments, she managed to steady her breathing.

"Mom?" Yang whispered plaintively. The physical pain all paled in comparison to the emotional distress of Raven's cold, cruel silence. "Mom... why? Why?!"

Raven lifted her free hand and reached out, past Yang. She picked up the pack and stuffed it against Yang's stomach. The woman brought Yang's hand down on the pack and released her wrist. Her eyes narrowed again, almost spelling out a threat of further physical violence.

Yang began to sob uncontrollably. This was a nightmare and yet she knew from all the physical pain it was indeed happening. Her emotions had all ready gotten away from her, but now they went out of control.

"Why do you hate me?!"

Raven seemed almost insulted by the question. She slapped Yang across the face, leaving a red hand mark. Raven stood, glaring down at her daughter. She slowly raised her hand and pointed to another door, in no uncertain terms telling Yang to get out and take the pack with her.

After everything that had happened, the one person in the world who should care most was throwing her out, injured, alone and emotionally cracking up.

Yang broke down. She turned onto her side, curled into the fetal position and began crying without the slightest bit of reservation. She did not know if her father was alive or dead. Her mother had beaten her and gave her a broken rib.

Ruby had left her behind.

Blake had left Yang alone and broken; lost.

Raven, however, was the first to leave her. That pain Yang carried deep down all her life hurt worse now than she could recall.

"You abandoned me! You all abandoned me! You all threw me away!"

Yang wailed like a child, unable to cease her crying. She held up her right arm and stared at it her bandaged stump. It was long healed, but she could not bear to look upon the scar and disfigurement. After all Taiyang had gone through for Yang, this was what came of it.

"I'm fucking worthless! Just say it!"

Yang wanted to die. That would finally make it all stop.

Summer and Taiyang would comfort her if there was something after...

A kick to the ribs drew a furious, futile scream. Raven went right for the broken rib. Yang slowly looked at her mother again, Raven's eyes almost glowing in the reflected fire light. She drew her hand back slightly and gestured severely to the door again, pointing a single finger at it.

Yang closed her eyes and nodded submissively, almost in a daze. Her mental state had broken down to the point all she could do was accept such simple instruction. She rolled onto her stomach and pushed off the floor, slowly getting to her knees. Yang picked up the pack. Through the fog of sadness and tears she realized it had some weight to it

Yang tried to stand, but failed to summon the strength or will to do so. She looked at her mother again, finding the woman waiting impatiently.

"I can't stand..."

Raven blinked. Her hand lashed out and grabbed Yang by the base of her mane, lifting.

Yang howled in pain and humiliation as she pushed off against the floor, getting to her feet. Her mother pushed her towards the door with the hand clenching her hair before releasing her blonde locks. Yang stumbled forward a few steps and stopped, looking over her shoulder at the woman who brought her into the world.

She wanted to say something. Call her a bitch. Anything.

Only sobbing left her lips when they parted.

Raven kicked her in the behind, pointing at the door once more.

Yang turned and stumbled to the door, putting the strap of the pack over her shoulder. She reached out and grabbed the knob, opening the door.

She found a swirling red, purple and black mass.

Yang took a step back in fear, but went no further, a foot firmly planted on her back.

Raven shoved, sending Yang tumbling through the vortex.

She rolled forward through the blackness and hit something shifting, dry and hot. Brightness stabbed at Yang's eyes as she cried out in terror. She could feel heat, her eyes attempting to adjust to the whiteness all around. Yang tried to get to stand up, but slid around on sand.

"Greetings," a deep male voice started.

Yang got to her knees, holding onto the pack for dear life. Her wide eyes and wet face looked around, sand sticking to her cheeks. "Who's there?!"

"You must be my student," the voice continued, not answering the question.

She faced in the direction of the voice, looking forward, her eyes still trying to focus in the bright, unforgiving sunlight. Yang could make out the silhouette of a tall, broad shouldered, muscular man standing not far off. "Who are you?"

"Your teacher. You will refer to me as Master."

"What?"

"Get on your feet."

"Where did my mother send me? Why did she do that to me?!" Yang was becoming overcome with emotion again, starting to sob between breathes. "She... hit me... and... Daddy... is he dead?!" Yang began to ball up again on her knees. "They came for me and killed him!" Yang lost control of her emotions. "I got him killed! He's all I had left!"

"That is not important."

Yang snapped out of her sorrow almost immediately, looking back at the man, now able to make out details. He was wearing sand-dusted black combat boots, fade blue jeans heavily stained with red sand and a black leather belt. His white shirt was stained with sweat and sand, the man wearing a jacket that matched his jeans.

His jaw was wide, his features handsome and masculine. His face sported a thick beard of light brown streaked occasionally with white, a matching moustache and matching overgrown hair. A large scar ran up from under the left side of his jaw to just under his left eye, breaking up his facial hair. His eyes were green like jade, narrowed in the bright light. He looked older than she, about her father's age.

She clenched her fist and pushed it down into the sand, slowly getting to her feet.

"What do you mean that's not important?!"

"It is simple, really. What are the two possibilities?" He raised he left and right hand. "Life or death. If he is alive, then you have nothing to worry about. I am certain your father has allies and is more than capable of protecting himself."

The man tilted his head, lowering his right hand and leaving up his left.

"If dead, there is nothing you can do for him. In the end, both possibilities mean the same thing for you." He pointed at her with his left hand. "You cannot go to him if he is alive or dead and you are unable to help or protect him if he is alive or dead. Thus, his current fate or the cause of it, is meaningless to you."

Yang screamed in fury, throwing down the pack and raising her fist. She quickly found a renewed will to fight in the face of this man's nonchalant, uncaring nature.

He smirked at her, lowering his left hand. "Do you intend to fight me?"

"I'm going to beat that smug look off your fucking face!" Yang screamed at him.

"You could not even lay a finger upon your mother in all your rage. You think you can harm me?"

To ask how he knew that did not occur to Yang. All that came to her was fury. Her eyes went red, her hair catching flame. She screamed at the top of her lungs in spite of the pain of a broken rib and charged headlong once again, trailing embers.

Yang reached him and threw a haymaker. His hand lashed upward and grabbed her left wrist. He twisted at the waist and threw Yang to the ground in a puff of sand. His other hand landed upon her left, taking up her pinky and ring finger.

With one twist of his wrist he broke both digits.

She howled in pain, his expression cold and stoic as he glared down at her. He released her limb and Yang crumpled into a ball on the ground before him. She tried to reflexively cradle her left hand with her right, the stump of her arm futilely reaching for her hand. Her eyes and hair reverted as she cried out in frustration and pain.

"You mother fucker!!"

"Get back up."

Yang screamed, holding her injured hand against her chest. "You broke my fingers! You mother fucking son of a bitch!!" Tears ran from her eyes anew. She only had one hand left and he injured it.

How could she fight now?

"Get back up."

"Fuck you! Fuck you!" Yang kicked at him, hitting him on the leg.

He grabbing her by the neck and lifted her from the ground, his eyes looking directly into her own.

"The will to fight back against a superior foe is very good, if expressed in a childish fashion. However, no student of mine strikes me outside of a sparring match unpunished. I am going to break another of your ribs now."

Yang's eyes shot open, small orbs of purple surrounded by bloodshot white. She was suddenly terrified, realizing he could do it with ease. "No! Please, no!! Don't hurt me, please!!"

He sighed. "I would have preferred the childish swearing and name calling in the face of your punishment. Your enemies shall have no mercy upon you, Yang." He shook his head. "Neither shall I."

He wound his right fist back, Yang kicking at him, her blows doing no more than faintly shaking the man where he stood. He loosed a single punch, breaking another of her ribs on impact. Yang was robbed of her wind once again, both of her ribs feeling like they had a hot iron driven into them.

The man dropped her unceremoniously into the sand, staring down at Yang, unmoved by her pain and sorrow. Yang still gasped for air, looking up at him, unable to believe his strength and merciless use of it.

His jade eyes were even more terrifying than her mother's red.

At least nature dictated there should be some pity or caring behind a mother's eyes. Looking into his was like being a mouse looking up at an eagle.

Yang was paralyzed with fear. She wanted her father or even Summer to come save her.

But Taiyang was dead. Summer was long dead.

"Now then, let us continue with lesson one." He gestured upward. "Get back up."


	9. You Are Deserving

Yang pushed herself up from the sand and the blood of her foes. Around her laid disintegrating the last of another pack, this one a rare sight; the Desert Ursa of Vacuo. Smaller, but faster and more vicious than their forest counterparts, they gave Yang a hard fight. Their Major was as large as a normal Ursa, but as fast as a Beowolf.

The Major's wicked long middle claw gave Yang the new wound across her back, through her earlier three like a tally mark. One of his pack delivered the three new cuts across her stomach, skin deep that they were. Blood seeped from her new wounds, the bandages over her old wounds sporting larger blood stains than the day before.

The older wounds were not healing well.

She stood upright and leaned her head back, taking a deep breathe. The hot sun blazed down on her skin, slowly, but steadily deepening the bronze hue Yang was taking on. She gingerly placed her hand on her stomach and then pulled it away, looking at the blood staining her palm's wrap.

"There is plenty more where that came from."

Yang looked over at her teacher, the man standing by the entrance of the nearby cave the Ursa had made their lair within. His hair and beard were heavily stained with red sand, his clothing just as filthy. She nodded grimly and walked towards him, assuming he had seen something in his experience and wisdom her lack thereof could not.

"Have you picked up more tracks, Master?"

"Have you?"

"None here, but my skills are not there yet."

"Hence why you ask." He nodded, gesturing to the cave. "Recognition of what limitations you have is good. That is the best first step to improvement one can take. To answer your question, however, no. Come, I will bind your wounds and we will make camp for the afternoon."

Yang snorted, a small grin playing across her lips. She was out of breathe and energy, her Aura just a flicker. Every fiber of her body welcomed the news, but her will burned bright. "Getting tired, old man?"

Her teacher smiled. "Taking an assessment." He walked into the cave and motioned to a flat rock. "Sit."

She followed him in, the shaded cavern entrance only marginally cooler than the harsh light of day. She sat down on the small slab of rock, her knees apart. It was not a comfortable chair, but no furnishing she had been allowed to use during her training was. Yang pulled her canteen from her belt and held it by her ear, giving it a shake.

It was empty.

"My wounds will be fine, if that's what you want to assess."

"That is not it." Her teacher knelt behind her and set his satchel on the ground. He opened it and pulled out a small white and green medical pack, the symbol of the Atlesian Military on it. "We have been at this for five days without a break. Yang, you have killed dozens of Grimm. Some of them dangerous examples of their species."

"That's why we are out here, right?" Yang looked over her shoulder at him as he grabbed her dusty, blood stained and abused mane. He tied a bandanna around it and put it over her shoulder, laying it on her chest and getting it out of his way. "We're hunting. I'm finally doing what I've wanted to do."

"How does it feel?"

"I have never felt so strong. I never dreamt of being able to kill a Grimm with my bare hand or feet. I snapped one's windpipe yesterday and I have four broken fingers." Yang nodded slowly, replaying the battles of her hunt over in her head. "I feel powerful."

He hummed and nodded as he opened the medical kit, getting out a curved needle and some thread. Her teacher pulled a knife from his boot and placed the blade between her skin and the dirty bandages around her upper body. With a swift slice, the old bandages fell from her body.

Her breasts fell free, as bronze as the rest of her skin aside moderate dark pink crowns. Yang looked at her bosoms. They were even smaller now than six days earlier from lack of food, water and such sparse rest and such intense injury and effort.

"How are they so dark too?"

"The sun burns brightly here. Clothing cannot keep the sun from burning your skin. If you are not sturdy enough, you will eventually tan to the point of darkening to survive."

"I like it," Yang observed plainly, smirking at her bronze skin.

He inspected her skin on her back as he worked. "Irrelevant, but fine I suppose."

"Yeah."

The cold, painful sting of antiseptic on her back wounds stabbed into Yang's chest, agitating her slowly healing ribs. His arm reached around her and poured more on the fresh cuts across her belly. She clenched her teeth, but not one whimper or gasp of pain, not a single noise, left her lips.

Yang sat perfectly still.

Next came the bite of the needle in her skin and the thread passing behind it as her teacher stitched up the deep laceration on her back. Still she did not wince or move.

"Your scars will stand out on such brown skin. Does that not trouble you? After all, your vanity bruises easily."

"My beautiful blonde hair is wrecked, my tits are under half their old size and my right arm is gone." Yang smiled, looking up at the roof of the cave. She was covered in sand, her hair frayed and likely split at every single end. Her womanly figure had been decimated by her training. She was slowly becoming covered in scars as the days wore on.

"I look like shit now. I don't give a fuck. I'm finally a Huntress."

Her teacher nodded, slowly closing the wound on her back. "How are your broken ribs and fingers?"

"Still hurt like a mother fucker, but so what?"

He nodded again. "Ready to get back at it after this?"

"I could hunt for another few days. Give me some time, I can pick up some tracks." Yang looked over her shoulder at him, violet meeting viridian. "I saw some tracks a day ago, near the gulch with the fossils in the wall. Looked like a decent size Beowolf pack."

"It is. At least a half-dozen and a young Alpha. Not worth our time." He blinked, pointing at her canteen. "Are you thirsty?"

Yang glanced at the empty canteen sitting by her boot. "Nah, just taking stock of my supplies. Out of food and water, but I should be good for another day before dehydrating too badly."

She felt him tying off the stitching. His hands began to wrap a fresh bandage around her body, her arms lifting reflexively. He started low on her back, the bandage starting to cover the wounds on her belly as he slowly worked his way upward.

"Anything on your mind?"

She was silent for a moment as his hands worked the bandage over her breasts and across her wounded back. They were still large enough to need some support, her teacher apparently understanding that as he began wrapping beneath them over and over in layers before moving upward again.

Yang smirked.

"Dad, Mom, Ruby and Uncle Qrow... I wonder if he's still alive or if he really is dead, where the hell the bitch ran off to now, how sis is doing and where he took off to." Yang shook her head. "I wonder about others as well. Where Blake is, in particular."

The young woman exhaled wistfully and blinked, her teacher lifting his head for a moment, watching her mannerisms.

"Hmm?"

"Not that any of it matters at the end of the day. I'm in the middle of the deserts of Vacuo. There is not a single thing I can do for any one of them out here."

"So nothing troubling you?"

"Oh, it bothers me. When I lay down to sleep, they are all in the back of my mind." Yang sighed. "But, you get up and keep moving. I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to protect them or help them and I'm way too far away. If I stay focused on my training, one day, I can help."

He tied off the bandage and stood up, walking around in front of Yang. He looked down at her and held out his hand.

"Your canteen."

Yang picked it up and handed it to him. He pulled a small bottle of water, no more than then a deciliter, out of a small pouch on his belt and popped the cap off both it and canteen, pouring the bottle out into it. He handed the canteen back.

"Thank you." She was indeed thankful for her payment, however small, for her services as a Huntress. She could make due for another two days on this before severe dehydration would set in.

"One moment." He pulled a small blister pack from another pouch and punched out a single pill. It was a small clear caplet, filled with glittering White and Blue Dust. He dropped it into the canteen.

Yang felt the weight of the container increase slowly, the metal canteen beginning to grow cool. Within a minute it felt full and ice cold. She stared at the canteen in astonishment.

It had not been full since they set out. Such generosity brought a smile to her face.

"Wow. Thank you, Master." Yang looked up at him, sealing the canteen and putting it back on her belt. "What was that?"

"An AMWAT; Atlas Military water tablet. Just add one to a deciliter of water and you get a full liter." He smirked at her, his lips slightly cracked from the heat and lack of water. "A little something the Schnee Dust Corporation had been keeping under wraps. At least, until Vacuo Black Ops stole some examples about a year back and made their own."

Yang grinned. "It would be useful to them, yeah."

"Tough on the kidneys if you drink too much Dust Water, but that is nothing you cannot handle."

"It's not like I drink a lot anyways."

"Exactly." He placed the blister pack back into his belt pouch and reached down, picking up his satchel. In went his hand and out it came with a large, dense brown plastic bag bearing Atlesian military markings. He handed it to Yang.

"What is this?" She read it over, having never seen anything quite like it. "Meal Ready to Eat? Chili and Macaroni?"

Yang's eyes lit up bright, almost sparkling. A rush of happiness and memories came to her. They were kept orderly and from becoming overwhelming by her will.

Still, she was excited.

"Meat and cheese! Chili Mac and Cheese! I loved it when Summer would make this for us!"

"I doubt it will live up to that lofty standard of a mother's cooking, but Atlas does make excellent military provisions. That even has a chemical stove, for which I will provide the water." He pulled a small bottle of water from his satchel and set it on the rock beside Yang. "Just follow the instructions and you will have a hot meal. It even has crackers, cheese spread and a little pound cake. It also has orange drink mix and hot sauce."

He gave a thumbs up, a matter-of-fact look on his face.

"I have had that meal you are holding a few times. It is actually good. Normal people might have to beware the effects of such food on their stomachs, but you shall be fine."

Cake? Condiments? Something to drink other than water?

Yang wanted to cry from sheer joy. She almost did.

She looked up at her teacher, wondering what he had up his sleeve. "You're going to make me dump all this out, break my thumb and then tell me to go wrestle a King Taijitu in the next cave over, aren't you?"

He shook his head, pulling a simple Vacuo ration pack out of his satchel for himself. He sat down on the ground and pulled out his canteen, preparing to have his meal.

"Wow," Yang whispered, looking at the bounty in her lap.

"We are resting for the entire afternoon and into the night. Eat your meal, have some water and get some sleep. I will keep watch while I mediate. Once the sun goes down in about seven hours, we are heading out."

Yang nodded. "Yes Master." She was silent for a moment, lifting the MRE to her mouth so she could use her teeth to open it. Yang knew it was designed for someone with two hands, but she would figure it out. She had gotten good at figuring out using things with one hand.

"Master?"

He looked at her, running his fingers through his beard, sand falling from it. "Yes, Yang?"

"Why are you being so... well, so nice to me?"

The man looked her directly in the eyes, still hard and jaded in more ways than one. However, there was just the hint of warmness behind that cold exterior that she was seeing more and more of in the previous weeks.

"I have completed my assessment. You are ready for the final tests. The first will be tomorrow."

Yang sat up straight, lowering the MRE from her lips. Her eyes were fixed on his. Anything about her training demanded her full attention. "I would ask, but I know you won't tell me."

"You are correct. Now eat your lavish meal and drink your fill or orange-flavored water, I will not interfere for that is your property. Enjoy it." His expression suddenly became deathly serious. "I do mean enjoy it. That may be your last meal."

She nodded once, coming back down from her high, but not crashing into Earth. Just putting her feet back on the ground. After all she had been through, such a test would likely be quite the ordeal. Yang had no idea what it could be, and she still thought him a madman, but she had followed him this far and seen so much improvement.

If he thought she was ready for these tests, then she was ready.

"Yes Master." She held up the MRE. "Thank you for your generosity."

"No Yang, thank you for being so faithful a student since day one. Now eat."

She eyed his ration and then looked at the one in her hand. Deep down, Yang was still that nice, if loud mouthed, kid from Patch. She was still Summer's little girl.

"Would you like to have some with me, Master?"

He looked up slowly from his lackluster food, a faint smile on his face. "As hungry as you must be, you are willing to offer me some of your feast?"

"Summer always taught me to share."

"What does your body tell you."

"To eat it all and say get your own." Yang laughed and smiled wide, some girlish charm still managing to shine through her filthy and battered exterior. "But I tell my body what to do, not the other way around. Just like you taught me. You want some? We can split our meals."

Her teacher shook his head, but still smiled, a bit more warmth in his eyes than before.

"Yang, I have survived on far worse and much less. I do appreciate such a generous offer, but I will respectfully decline. Your willpower has indeed come a long way and seems to have done so without sacrificing your core values. That is good to know." He gestured a hand to her ration. "Eat richly, Yang. Trust me when I say you are deserving of it."

Yang exhaled sharply and nodded again, a bit of mist in her eyes from such kind words. The emotions were pushed aside by her will. She lifted the MRE to her teeth and tore it open.

When it was all said and done, the feast she enjoyed did not disappoint her. Hot meat and cheese spiced with hot sauce and finished with a preservative-laden rock of a cake, but cake none the less. It was all washed down with vaguely orange flavored drink. She saved the crackers and cheese spread for a snack.

If this was indeed her final meal, Yang would remember it very fondly. However, it was not complete. Not yet. It was lacking something. She stood from her seat and walked to her teacher.

Yang placed half the pound cake in his hands as he mediated.

He opened a single eye, looked at the treat and then at Yang. He seemed to question her.

"I insist, Master. If this is my last meal, I want someone to enjoy it with me. It's no stew, but..."

The man opened his other eye, lifted the cake half in a toast of sorts and smiled, accepting.

"Thank you, Yang."

"Thank you, Master. For everything."


	10. Pain is a Curious Thing

The pain was unbearable.

Everything hurt. Her broken ribs cried out in sharp clarity with every breathe she took. Her fingers throbbed. The cuts, bruises and two black eyes were sore. Yang wanted to cry, but any sobbing she did was dry. She had not had water an entire day. Worse still, she reeked of blood and dirt.

When she could smell that over the scent of her own urine.

He beat her for not getting back up. The man hit her, over and over, kicking and punching and slapping Yang as the hot sun and hotter sand showed even less mercy. Yang could not stand on her wounded leg with so many injuries and so much weight upon her heart.

Yang simply could not pick herself up from the sands.

She pleaded, cried out, begged and even offered to debase herself sexually in her desperation, but nothing stayed his wrath. Nothing bought succor or warmth. The beating would not abate. It lasted for hours, but it felt like a lifetime. Somewhere in the beating, he broke her middle finger.

Only when the sun finally ceded the sky to the fractured moon did Yang summon the strength to crawl to the steps down to the subterranean entrance of his home.

She had realized there was no stopping this nightmare but to do as she was told and rise. She needed something to lean upon.

Yang crawled on her belly down the steps and to his door, scrapping her skin and feeling the agony of her broken fingers with each grab of the ground and pull. He watched her like a bird of prey the entire time, following at a distance, but ceased striking her.

She managed to drag herself to her feet at his doorway, finally getting back up, and took the few steps past the threshold before collapsing on the cool stone floor. Yang then dragged herself to a dimly lit corner and curled into a ball.

He did not regard her further, sitting on the floor in a meditation position before a simple hammock. The man had not moved since. He had paid no heed to her injuries, to her thirst or hunger and certainly none to her emotional distress.

The despair Yang felt was unimaginable to her at any point before.

She was abandoned by her mother once more, only now to a madman. Yang had no friends or family to lean on and no knowledge of the fate of her father. All the pain and injury as well as the relentless thirst and hunger was crushing. The degradation of offering him sexual favor in return for the cessation of violence and then urinating on herself in terror as he responded with even more strikes was nearly overwhelming.

The loss of her arm and the loss of Blake.

All the loss, pain and all the suffering. Yang could not bear it. She cursed herself.

Now she was curled up in a dim corner, slowly dying like an abandoned animal left to perish. Like a pet that had known love and happiness, only to have it stripped away completely and to be thrown away hurt and weak like garbage.

She was a crippled, worthless creature the world had no use for. She would die shivering in this corner. Yang knew it.

She looked at him again, the man her mother had given her over to. His cruelty was unfathomable, yet his willingness to beat her when she was helpless spoke volumes of him to her. This was no teacher. This was a torturer.

How much did Raven hate Yang? To send her here? To him?

Not even her own mother loved her. She looked into Raven's eyes desperate for answers and affection only to be beaten by her as well.

Yang's faded purple eyes slowly took in the rustic hovel of a home. The simple fireplace, the barrels at the other end and the small sink by them. His hammock, the shelves of simple provisions and a slab of stone the size of a bed, but certainly a table of some kind. There was a simple stool, a small table near it and a trunk near his hammock. A large stack of firewood and a couple of crates were along the wall opposite the barrels.

As she looked to the door she noticed three things hanging on the rack near it. One was the pack her mother gave her. The second was a simple black satchel. The third was what caught her eye.

It was a black leather bullet belt replete with large Dust rounds and a large holster on it, sticking out of it a large pistol handle. Yang stared hard at the gun belt, focusing on the wooden handle of the firearm, evidently a revolver of some kind.

She took stock of her options and found them lacking. Unable to stand and walk for more than a few steps to flee and terrified at the prospect of a tomorrow with this 'teacher' Yang began to take stock of her life.

Yang stayed there, looking at the floor in the dim light for nearly an hour, slipping deeper into dispair with each passing moment. All her failures played out, over and over. Her first encounter with Neapolitan, her out lash in the Vytal Festival against Mercury Black for now she was certain she was at fault and her attempt to attack Adam and the loss of her arm.

She had turned her back on her own sister before being left behind by Ruby. Taiyang, who tried so hard to lift her up only to be killed by her enemies when they attempted to kill her. Finally meeting Raven face to face and regretting it utterly.

And now this.

"Blake," Yang whimpered. It was the only word she could muster past her chapped, cracked lips. It was all she had left to hold on to.

But the Faunus had left her behind as well.

A single tear, perhaps the last bit of spare water Yang had left within her, rolled down her cheek and to the cool stone floor. It quickly dried up.

There were no tears left now. Only a decision and Yang had made up her mind.

Yang slowly, shakily, pushed her hand against the floor. Her body protested in every way it could, pain filling her being, but still, Yang managed to get up to a sitting position. She then got to her feet and leaned on the wall.

Slowly, she limped to the door. sliding along the plastered wall.

She reached the doorway and turned, leaning on the door. Yang looked at the rack, now able to reach out to it with her remaining hand. She reached out and unbuttoned the strap keeping the firearm in the holster before taking the handle in hand. She pulled free a massive revolver, the weight of it almost too much for the pain in her fingers and hand.

Along the 21 centimeter weighted bull barrel was engraved the word 'Vanquisher' and '.460 Magnum' was on the large frame. The weapon was blued steel, the grip's diamond-etched wood almost rough enough to scratch her hand.

She peered down at the side of the cylinder with lifeless lavender eyes and found brass within the chambers. Yang slid down slowly against the door, her back to it, and rested the heavy hand cannon in her lap. The young woman wedged the barrel between her thighs and cocked the hammer back. She took the revolver back in hand, pointed it up at her head and lifted it slowly, not letting pain stop her now.

Yang pressed it under her chin, her mouth shut tight and closed her eyes, placing her unbroken index finger on the trigger. She wedged her elbow against her thigh to aid against her weakness and broken bones, allowing her to angle for a proper shot through her brain.

There was nothing left to do but squeeze. It would be over very soon.

"Blake," Yang whispered, deciding on her above her father and sister for her final words. "I loved you, Blake. I still do..."

"Pain is a curious thing," his voice began. Yang opened her eyes, finding him looking at her, sitting on the floor across from her. She did not hear him stand, move or take such a close seat. "Of all the things we experience in life, is it not odd the thing most wish to experience least is the strongest reminder we are, indeed, alive?"

Yang stared at him, these the first words he had for her beside the repeated mantra of 'Get back up'.

"Most people will go to great lengths to avoid pain or stop it. Some, to very great lengths." He gestured towards Yang with just a motion of his hand. "I never understood it, not wanting to know, for sure, you are alive. That you are indeed surviving. I never fathomed desiring oblivion over life. On quitting on everyone who have not quit on you."

"Everyone quit on me... and... the only person left... " Yang thought of her father and her hand began to tremble. Perhaps she would see him and Summer soon?

"You are wrong. There are others who have not quit on you. Your mother, for one."

Yang stared at him blankly, her mind unable to comprehend such sentiment. She mustered a faint scoff.

"Raven sent you to me for good reason. One that, if you let me explain it, might put her in a different light in your eyes."

She did not pull the trigger and after a few seconds, he took that as an answer.

"I can teach you patience, self-control and how to impose your will upon your body, no matter how broken and battered it may be. I can help improve your Aura and your control over it. That is the foundations I need. Once that is set I can teach you to harness the greatest power you have. To use your Semblance to the fullest possible extent."

Yang was still listening, though at this point she did not much care. It was more fear of the unknown keeping her from pulling the trigger than anything else, but that was running out. He looked her in the eyes, the dim light of the small fire making his green eyes glint as they narrowed.

"Do you know the true nature of your Semblance, Yang?"

She nodded faintly.

"I do not think you do." He shook his head. "Your Semblance, Yang Xiao Long, is not fueled by taking hits or anger. Your Semblance is fueled by pain."

She blinked. That was not what her uncle or father told her. What kind of lie was this man trying to tell her?

"It seems like a meaningless distinction from how you understand your Semblance, but it is massive. Pain, after all, comes in more forms than being hit." He smiled, if only faintly. "Pain does drive some people, and perhaps some enjoy it a little too much, but pain does not fuel them how it can fuel you."

"How could you possibly know?"

Yang watched him pull off his blue jean jacket and drop it to the floor. Her eyes took in the multitude of scars all over his powerful arms. She watched him remove his shirt. His body was masculine and powerful, lightly covered in light brown hair, but more striking was the unholy array of scars.

Melee weapons of every kind had struck, sliced or stabbed him at some point. Multiple bullet wounds covered him. Numerous small stitching holes surrounded the larger wounds, some very haphazard patch jobs.

If she was not so far gone emotionally, Yang would have been disgusted or maybe impressed.

"I have the same Semblance as you. I have endured more pain than you can even imagine, Yang. I have fought on with broken limbs and a shattered heart against long odds time and again. I have bled rivers of blood and lost everything more than once. In spite of this all, in the face of multiple defeats, I have never yielded. What I have learned that has allowed me to accomplish this, I wish to teach to you."

"You're insane."

"Yang, I have been doing what I do for a very, very long time. I likely am not mentally sound... or perhaps, I am the sane one and the world is mad. What is for certain is, if anyone on Remnant is qualified to teach you how to use your power and achieve a higher level of mastery of your Semblance, it is the man before you. I can teach you how to wield your pain as your greatest weapon. To wield it throughout your being with unbreakable will and to achieve feats you would currently think impossible."

She did not believe him. This was all madness. "My Semblance is powered by the hits I take, you crazy bastard."

"Then why does it flare when you have not been struck? Why do your eyes turn scarlet and why does your hair burn gold in the absence of even a threat? It is not purely that your temper brings it out. It is that the emotional pain you carry bubbles to the surface in moments of distress when your control of your emotions slips."

Yang was certain it was just a byproduct of her temper and nothing more. How did he know all this anyways? Perhaps Raven told him.

"That's not it. It's just a quirk."

"That is no quirk. Yang, every time you used your Semblance in battle, what little pain you felt from blows through your Aura was not the only source. It would not be enough to have achieved all you have up until this point. You were pulling on something deeper. Something that hurt more than being punched or kicked or shot."

She had a feeling she knew where he was going with this.

"In your eyes your mother abandoned you, Yang. I can hardly imagine how much that must hurt every day. However, that is the primary fuel source for your power as it is."

That was what she figured he would say. Yang was growing tired. The fear had finally passed. "I don't believe you."

"So you think your mother sent you here to be beaten, humiliated and forgotten? After leaving you for the first time with such a loving father and saintly step-mother, with a little sister to keep you company, you think Raven has visited this fate upon you for no good reason? I do not expect you to understand her, but this all has a purpose, Yang."

Yang simply did not care anymore. She wanted no part of this anymore. No part of life. Her loving father and saintly step-mother were waiting. Maybe she would have a good laugh with Pyrrha too?

She closed her eyes and sighed. "If you see Blake, tell her I love her."

Yang squeezed the trigger, only to experience nothing. Nothing but a click and not another sound.

Her eyes opened again, finding the man's hand on the weapon, the skin between his thumb and hand trapped between the hammer and firing pin. He caused the revolver not to discharge.

She could not even get this right. At least there was someone to blame.

"You son of a bitch."

He took the weapon from her broken fingers with ease, cocked the hammer and aimed it at her heart. He reached into his jacket laying beside him and tossed a tattered, darkly stained black ribbon into Yang's lap.

The young woman recognized it immediately. Through the darkness of despair and the bleakness of resignation from life itself a cold chill managed to run up her spine.

Suddenly, she was afraid again.

"You asked if I saw her to deliver a message. I must deliver one to you. Four days ago Blake was captured by the White Fang." His eyes narrowed, not the slightest hint of humor in him.

"She was beaten, tortured and raped by Adam Taurus before he cut her throat. Her last words were your name, but before that, your location. Blake gave you up to stop the pain. He obliged. Slowly."

Yang's face twisted with horror, her blood running cold as she picked up the ribbon. It was indeed Blake's. The stains were blood.

There was no disbelief or denial. Blake was dead. She had met a terrible fate.

Somehow this was all Yang's fault.

There was a lower place to descend to in her soul past attempting suicide and Yang now knew of it. The cruelty of the universe was endless and she was caught in the crosshairs once again. The only thing that came to her from the depths of her being was an overwhelming urge to cry out.

Yang's lips parted and a scream welled up in her chest in spite of the pain of her broken ribs. Her screech of anguish and fury filled the hovel and out into the night air. She lashed out at him reflexively. He was the source of her suffering and she had to stop it.

A bright, fiery flash filled her eyes as the thunderous report filled her ears as her hand neared him. A powerful force slammed into her chest and hurled her through the door as she was winded completely. Yang went sliding and rolling across the subterranean stone walkway, being cut up and bruised further before smashing into the stairs to a halt.

Pain filled Yang's chest and hand. She looked down at her chest, finding her balled up fist in it. She lifted her hand, her lungs pulling greedily for air. Her hand opened, a flattened large caliber revolver slug steaming in her palm, the skin around it bright red

The red was the prelude to a nasty bruise. What greeted her should have been a hole and blood. She should be dead.

Her wide eyes slowly rose and looked down the entry hall. She stared through the open door mouth agape in shock at the man, the revolver still pointed at her. She had flown at least eight meters.

He smirked and raised Vanquisher, smoke wafting from the barrel.

"You should see the look on your face."

Yang blinked, her small irises blazing red and her hair burning more golden and brighter than it ever had before, a few embers wafting off it like fireflies. She began to shake, her eyes turning back to amethyst and her hair returning to blonde as confusion set in.

"I... I... How..."

"Your Semblance activated when your hand got halfway to me. I knew you still had a spark of Aura left. Judging by that scream, it was that small bit your primal instincts hide away for a life or death situation. What is interesting is you used that spark attempting to attack, not defend. Now, however, you have no Aura left."

"Blake..." Yang's voice quaked as her thoughts returned to the Faunus. Her hand fell down to the ground, the bullet rolling free along the stone. "She's... she's..."

"As of the last time Raven checked when she stole the bow from her collection a day ago, still alive and well. I told you a lie. As such, I feel obligated to tell you the truth. I am a man who speaks the truth or not at all. However, I needed to test you."

Yang blinked. Elation did not come quickly. The shock of everything was too much.

"I needed something to force out a powerful expression of your Semblance in the blink of an eye. Something incredibly emotionally painful. This Blake girl meeting a horrible end seemed the better bet. I had a piece of Ruby's cloak in my jacket, too."

He reached in and pulled out a small, tattered piece of red cloth stained with blood. The man tossed it onto his jacket.

"Your mother narrowed it down to one of them, but was not certain which would have been more visceral. She provided both props and your father provided the blood."

Yang was suddenly furious, the haze of depression and pain clearing as his words sank in fully. As the cruelty of his and her mother's actions dawned upon her. "That bitch! You... you son of a bitch!" Yang screamed again in futile fury, paying no heed to her ribs.

"You son of a bitch!! That whore!!"

"Yang, you caught a bullet out of Vanquisher here on Semblance alone with not one bit of Aura left to protect you in a hand with three broken fingers. You do not have a broken hand, arm or another broken rib for it. You do not have a hole in you. You survived something that was certainly death. You did so in, likely, one of the most, if not the most, intense moments of emotional pain in your life."

He smiled a little with narrowing eyes, his expression knowing.

"Are you not curious as to how?"

Yang blinked, realizing what she had accomplished. It felt like she was hit by a freight train, yet the bullet did not even break her skin. He could not possibly be right... could he? Was what he was selling her possible.

She looked upon his scars again. The significance of the healed wounds began to dawn on her. Some of them looked like the should have been fatal or so overwhelmingly painful shock should have knocked him out. Some of the bad stitching jobs looked self-inflicted.

"That was one day of training with me. That was what I could do with what you have to work with right at this moment" He got to his feet and walked to the door, holstering the revolver into the harness hanging on the rack. He moved on to Yang, standing over her.

"Do you believe me now that there is none better to teach you how to utilize your Semblance and willpower?"

She had to know one thing. "Are you ever going to beat me like you did today again?"

"If you refuse to rise again, yes. Your foes will not take pity because you have fallen or beg for it. Most will not accept anything you offer, even the use of your mouth or womanhood, Yang." He shook his head. "That was a low moment."

She looked away in shame.

His boot nudged her ribs in a gentle kick, forcing her teeth to clench from the pain. Her eyes snapped back up at him.

"Never look away while we discuss your training. Maintain eye contact. Future punishments for such behavior will not be so lenient."

Yang exhaled, nodding. She still felt very ashamed of offering something like that to anyone she did not know, but especially a man. She did not find men attractive in the least and the thought of either act was sickening to her.

He seemed to read her expression and shook his head.

"I have no interest in you, either. You are my student."

She nodded, but still felt terrible.

"Yang, this is training. Here you will make all the mistakes and I will correct them so when you finally take the field of battle, those mistakes will not happen. However terrible you errors may be, in the end, everything that occurs while you are under my tutelage remains between us and us alone. I give you my word. Not even your mother will know. Do not dwell upon it any further."

Yang nodded again, taking his words to heart. "Thank you."

"There is no need for thanks. Now then, the first lesson is to always stand back up when you fall. If you strike me outside of a sparring match, I will reprise and harshly so." His right hand balled into a fist. "I will teach you everything I can without reservation, but you must obey. Now, get back up."

Yang clenched her teeth in a mixture of anger and fear. She pressed her arm into the ground and pushed off, the entire limb lighting up like flame from the force of the blow it had absorbed. Her chest felt crushed it was in so much pain, but Yang managed to lean against the wall and slowly push off the stone, rising to a leaning stand.

The wall was supporting her, but she was up.

His hand opened and he placed it on her shoulder, nodding in approval and giving a gentle squeeze. "Very good. Your lessons for today are complete. Yang, will you continue learning from me? Do you believe none is more capable of teaching you?"

She believed him.

Something within her needed to believe her being brought to him was not some cruel imposition by a mother who did not care. That it had meaning, just like being left behind with Taiyang, Summer and Ruby. Yang had to hold onto something in that moment, but more importantly a question came to her. Something within her needed to know.

If he could get her to pull that off... catching so powerful a bullet with no shielding Aura on pure, raw strength of her Semblance, what else was he capable of? What else was she capable of? How far could he take her?

Yang slowly nodded, looking into his eyes. "Yes."

"Good. Now then, you have been referring to me as 'son of a bitch' and while very accurate, that is not my title. I am your Master. I expect an apology or I am breaking another rib."

What did she just agree to? It was too late now. "I'm sorry, Master."

"Very good. Now then, I will provide you a full basin of water and a rag to clean up and then I will dress your wounds. I will give you some food and water and you will sleep on the stone slab. Raven packed for you everything you shall need for your stay and I shall provide the rest. Tomorrow, we start training at dawn. You will do everything I tell you to, when I tell you to. Am I understood?"

Yang nodded, finally finding direction again in submission to his tutelage. "Yes, Master."


	11. Death Itself

They came to the crest of a dry, rocky hill and looked down into a large valley as the first rays of dawn broke. Yang and her teacher had been following tracks all through the night, traveling into the deepest reaches of the desert, into the very heart of lands not even fully mapped.

They never followed any one set for long until a few hours ago. Her teacher had not spoken a word. Now, Yang could see why.

The Valley of the Kings was a place of legend whispered of in stories told to children to frighten them. Even the finest explorers, armed with air ships, could not find this place. Fate always seemed to conspire against them, sandstorms and malfunctions plaguing every expedition to date. One aerial expedition was lost entirely to the desert twenty years ago, never heard of again with all seventeen members pronounced dead.

Yang never imagined seeing the Valley of the Kings with her own eyes.

Statues lined the valley, massive ten meter stone pillars of the great warrior-kings of Vacuo's barbaric and turbulent past as well as the stately constitutional monarchs from before the Great War. Here they were rumored to be buried, the last of which was supposedly brought here by his last four surviving warriors at the end of the Great War.

King Oriel Sandstone's statue stood before her in his cloaked half-plate, crown upon his brow and holding his great hammer. He was proud and tall, frozen forever in everlasting glory.

"I thought this place was a myth," Yang whispered, her wide purple eyes taking in the monuments to the rulers of Vacuo.

Her teacher shook his head. "Here rests the Monarchs of Vacuo. From the warlords to the constitutional kings and queens and everything in between." Her teacher sounded solemn as he looked out over the valley. "Here Yang Xiao Long, something truly dire has made its lair."

"A Death Stalker judging by the tracks and the scuffs on the rock formations we passed around four in the morning. He's a big one, too."

Her teacher looked at Yang, nodding once. "This Death Stalker is what an Alpha is to a Beowulf or a Major to an Ursa, only greater and deadlier still."

"A White Death?" Yang responded, looking her teacher in the eyes, knowing of such a creature, but barely able to believe one still existed. "It can take centuries for a Death Stalker to grow large enough and powerful enough to become a White Death. Professor Port told us one hasn't been seen since the years just before the Great War. That was on an island of salt-water marshes off the coast of Mistral."

"You are going to see one today. A White Death dwells here, in the Valley of the Kings." His expression turned stoic and intense. "This one has guarded this valley for five centuries unbroken, but he is likely much, much older."

Yang's mouth opened in shock. Only one legend about a Death Stalker, a White Death of renown, could possibly be such a creature. It was rumored to be here in the Valley of the Kings, but that was just a fairy tale. Just a story.

Something Summer told a small Yang and smaller Ruby to frighten them one stormy night.

"Master, it can't possibly be real..."

"I have seen him with my own eyes."

"Seven Eyes," Yang whispered, a hint of awe in her voice. Her heart began to beat quicker, that old companion fear creeping into the back of her mind. "He Who Guards Royal Repose."

"Yes. He still lives and still stalks this valley, guarding the final resting place of the Monarchs of Vacuo until time or battle takes his life. He is ancient and wily and likely understands his purpose. Seven Eyes is one of the most cunning beasts I have ever done battle with. I was victorious, only barely, but I did not have the heart to kill such a dutiful, majestic Grimm."

"And you want me to fight Death Itself?"

Yang did not break eye contact with her teacher though she wanted to look away from his intense, predatory green stare. She knew he was not the most stable man and that his training techniques had nearly killed her dozens of times, but this was not sound. She took a deep breath, her will keeping the hint of fear from her voice.

"Master, this is insane. Seven Eyes has killed entire, experienced Hunter teams if the legends are true. He killed the four warriors who brought the last King of Vacuo here."

"Those are no legends, though that last is not entirely true. I watched them meet their deaths boldly and with honor. I saw their bloodied, broken bodies and shattered weapons fall to the ground."

Her eyes grew wide. He did not break eye contact. Yang forced herself to maintain it, allowing him to see her confusion and shock.

"I could not walk away from their bodies and abandon them without burial. I could not leave my fallen team to live to fight another day. I fought on, and when I won victory, I collected their bodies, buried them and built them a monument out of stone blocks and their weapons with my own two hands."

"Wait a minute," Yang stammered, her mind not believing, yet his words ringing with truth. "You... you were one of those four warriors? You were one of the four who brought King Oriel Sandstone here?"

He nodded.

Yang kept looking him in his green eyes, her eyes large and bearing small, purple circles around big black pupils. She could barely believe him and yet she knew he spoke only the truth. This was just a story Summer told them. It had to be.

Her Master had to be lying.

The Great War ended nearly a century ago.

"Our Lord the King fell in the final battle against the armies of Vale and Mantel. With the war lost, we brought him here to his final destination, where we laid him to rest with his ancestors in the soil of his native land. We struck a pillar with the Dust Caliber, carving his image into it for all time. In doing so, however, we awoke Seven Eyes."

"He killed the warriors, or so the story went." Yang could barely hear her own voice her whisper was so small.

"We were too weak from the trip and our work to escape with our lives. My three comrades fell that day. I nearly did so as well, but the overwhelming pain of their loss and my injuries drove my Semblance to heights I had never imagined. I carried on the fight with Seven Eyes for nearly an hour until finally, well, let us say he made a grave mistake and I was victorious for it."

"And then you buried your friends here and built them a monument?"

"Yes. They deserved nothing less. Vacuo too was and is their native soil. They rest within it in eternal tranquility."

"Are these the same friends you told me about?"

He nodded. "The very same we honored over meal and story, yes."

Something seemed very wrong about all of this to Yang. "Master... that would... you don't look... that can't be possible." Her thoughts began to race, the full implications of his claims hitting her like a speeding bullet. "That's not possible."

Was it the heat? The deprivation of food, water and sleep? Was this even real?

Was she bleeding out alongside her father in the fields of Northern Patch? Was this a dying dream? No, it could not be. The pain of the past months was too real to be a nightmare.

This was very real. That was even more frightening. Her will was nearly overwhelmed, but it held fast at the end.

"How old are you, Master?"

"Far older than I look, but that is irrelevant here." He kept his eyes on hers. "Today, Yang Xiao Long, you will undertake a truly dangerous test, but before I send you down there to face Seven Eyes, I must return something to you and bestow something upon you."

He opened the satchel and pulled out the left half of Ember Celica, the weapon's metal glinting in the sun. Yang had not seen it since that night her father fell. She had no idea where it went. Yet, there it was in his hand, being held out to her.

"This is your property. I return it to you now for you shall need it."

Yang reached out slowly and hesitated, extending her fingers to within a few centimeters of her weapon again and then pulled them back. It brought back a lot of memories seeing it, but, more so, Yang almost did not feel worthy of it.

She looked her teacher in the eyes again, the man nodding, sensing her doubt and giving her approval.

She took a deep breathe, flattened out her palm and stuck her hand through the hoop, pulling her arm back slowly, looking at her weapon. Having it on again brought strong emotions to her heart and mist to the edges of her eyes.

She missed her friends and still worried over her father in quiet moments, but having her weapon back felt right. She felt closer to whole.

"Today Yang, I bestow upon you the formal title of Huntress. No matter what happens from this moment forward, you will live or die a Huntress. You are among an elite. Some of the most selfless, noble and bold warriors Remnant has and will ever know."

She looked him in the eyes again, a single tear running down each cheek. Yang knew it in her heart to be true before now, when she stood amongst the broken and disintegrating bodies of Grimm. When she defeated a Beowolf with only a spark of Aura and one brutal blow.

She had called herself such just the day before.

To be told she was a Huntress was only a formality now, but to hear it spoken in such a way brought a lump to her throat. Yang was proud of what she had accomplished. She reasserted her will over her emotions, but it was bittersweet to let such strong, positive feelings go.

"I did it with one arm tied behind my back."

Her teacher smiled, his eyes warming slightly. "Indeed." He gestured to her bracelet. "I have had this in my possession since you arrived for training. I know not the weapon's name."

"Ember Celica."

"Names of color. A custom enshrined by the victors of the Great War." He nodded. "It is far older than that. It was originally a custom founded in Vacuo. The Last King of Vacuo was named Oriole Sandstone, after all."

This was something else that did not make sense to her. It assisted her will in grounding her once more. "Wait, Vacuo was defeated by Vale and Mantel. Why would they impose a custom of someone they beat?"

He smiled at her wider. "Very astute. Question not your senses and mind again. They are as sharp as ever and very likely sharper now."

She had a feeling he sensed that she was wondering if this was all a dream.

"Yang Xiao Long, you asked once but had not earned the right to hear it. I have offered and will offer again now on this occasion. Do you wish to know my name before you go and face Death Itself?"

She continued looking him in the eyes, amethyst meeting jade. The young woman had many questions, but suddenly they seemed unimportant. What was important was this was one of the final tests. What was important was how very real her renewed and increased strength felt.

Her Aura felt strong. The food, water and rest did wonders for her.

Yang swallowed, summoning her courage, feeling more prepared now that she had her weapon back. She was a Huntress and there was a mission to complete. The time had come.

"Tell me after I whoop this thing's ass."

The man before her smiled wider, his teeth large and white, his green eyes almost glittering with approval. He pulled Vanquisher and nodded.

"Very well. Head down to face He Who Guards Royal Repose. I know not what the result will be, but should you defeat the beast, do not take his life."

Yang blinked. That was a strange request. "Why not?"

"Because he guards the final resting place of my Lord, King Oriel Sandstone, his father, his mother and all their ancestors before. Seven Eyes is their eternal protector and that deserves a level of respect and dignity. Further, any Hunter or Huntress can kill, Yang. I want you to accomplish something more difficult. Break his will to fight."

She nodded slowly, accepting the challenge. "Everything else you've asked me to do has been insane. Why should his be any different?"

"Worry not about summoning him." Her teacher cocked the hammer of his revolver. "I will provide."

"Well then, no sense in just Yanging around." She smiled at him.

He sighed and nodded. "Water you waiting for?"

Yang continued to smile and nodded at him before parting.

She walked down into the valley, leaving the rocks and sand for carved stone swept with sand. Around her, rising high into the sky, was the legendary statues of the Kings of Vacuo, looking out at the desert like silent sentinels. She halted at the newest, paired with a plain pillar.

An impressive man holding a hammer stood like a titan before her, the name 'Oriel Sandstone' carved into the base. That very hammer laid on a pedestal before him, untouched by time or the elements.

The black and silver hammer glimmered with Dust. The pedestal it sat on read 'Malum Malleus'.

She passed pair after pair of them, the statues spaced apart evenly, their weapons and names before them. The first pairs were fresh and well detailed, but their further she went, the more worn and aged the statues were. Each subsequent one had less detail left, the winds and sands slowly eroding them.

Yet the weapons remained. At least most did. She saw a few weapon names, including 'Malum Malleus' repeated on empty pedestals. Apparently, some came to retrieve their ancestor's weaponry for their own use.

Yang found herself in a large stone plaza where the rows of statues intercepted like two roads. She looked around and then back to the hill she started from. Standing atop was her teacher. He slowly raised his revolver into the air.

A report like distant thunder reached her. It echoed about the valley and the statues faintly, slowly passing back into silence. Once it did, a full thirty seconds after, Yang felt the ground begin to lightly shake. The sand began to rise in the distance, a golden glow cresting beneath and slowly breaking free.

A massive stinger rose from the sand like a periscope from the waves, the black and white plated tail following. Then came a rush of air and sand as the claws broke free. Yang raised her arm to shield her eyes, peering out from under the limb, continuing to watch before too much sand enveloped her.

The wave of sand grew dense as it passed, fluttering her hair Yang shut her eyes, protecting them from the worst of the pressure wave and sand particles. As her purple eyes opened and focused, she could make out the massive form of a very large, very old Death Stalker.

The fog of sand cleared off.

The giant Grimm was twice the size of a normal Death Stalker, making it even larger than a 'typical' White Death. Its beady red eyes focused on her; five on the right half of its head and only two large ones on the left. A large break in its carapace, long since healed into an impressive scar, ran through where the two small eyes and closest large eye would have been.

Seven Eyes clacked one claw loudly, then the other. Was that a challenge? A greeting?

Its legs began to rise and fall as it readied to approach, its golden stinger shining in the sunlight like an orb of polished, pure gold. Its white carapace was wide and thick, grown in on the joints with its advanced age. The monster's entire body was covered in the scars of countless battles, quite likely the death of dozens of grave robbers and Hunters who managed to find this place through the centuries.

Yang raised her left arm and deployed her gauntlet, finding it fully loaded with Dust shells. She waited patiently as the massive Death Stalker approached, the Grimm nimbly weaving between the statues and onto the carved stone road. It picked up speed, the stinger rising high and a claw opening.

She prepared to run, lowering herself. The Huntress screamed at the top of her lungs and charged, her fist held up, ready to punch. She called upon every failure and injury she could recall, preparing her Semblance. The pain of the past and present answered her summons, intensifying her screech with each passing second.

Huntress and Grimm closed the gap on each other, Seven Eyes lashing out with a claw. Yang continued to scream, her hair catching alight and her eyes turning into glowing red orbs as her will fueled her Semblance with memories of pain along with the tangible bite of her injuries. She leapt through the open claw, the only real opening in the beast's guard, leaving cracked stone behind where she jumped.

A split-second after passing through the claw snapped closed behind her just centimeters from her feet. Yang slammed into the beast's head fist first, firing Ember Celica. Pain filled her hand immediately, the monster's armored carapace punishing her broken fingers for the blow. She rolled off the creature's head as it reached a claw over its eyes and snapped it at her.

Yang continued to roll onto the monster's back, the golden stinger swooping down past her, grazing through her hair. She got to her feet and ran up the beast's back, punching the tail. Again her fist impacted hard, harder than she had ever thrown it, but again, Seven Eyes was uninjured. She clenched her teeth and punched again, this time causing the tail to shake.

The White Death began to rattle about with its footwork, putting Yang on unstable footing. She had never even heard of a Death Stalker attempting such a thing. This one was indeed wily. She stepped about on the Grimm's back, trying to keep her balance, when the entire tail moved forward, crashing into her and sending her flying off the beast.

The young woman flew past the head and claws of the scorpion, another twenty meters and into the stone pathway onto her right shoulder, filling it with pain along with protests from her broken ribs through her chest. Yang rolled a few more meters, but quickly raised her head, not allowing fresh pain to stop her.

It only made her stronger.

She watched as Seven Eyes charged again, opening both claws.

Yang sneered and rolled out of the way at the last moment, two claws crashing down into where she once laid. As she rolled the tail lashed down after her, strike after strike hitting stone and then sand. She rolled a little further, then leapt up and charged in again, this time between the legs alongside the massive scorpion.

She got through the moving limbs and between them, screaming and hurling a haymaker into the base of one of the legs. This time, Ember Celica's impact and report drew a real reaction. Seven Eyes stumbled sideways from the blow, the leg behind the one Yang struck tucking in and moving forward, hitting Yang and slamming her into the leg she attacked.

Her mouth knocked into the limb's carapace and the taste of blood was on Yang's tongue. In response, she assaulted the base of the leg again, sending a convulsion down the limb and forcing Seven Eyes to move further away. As she prepared to attack once more the tail came down, the stinger barely missing Yang as she moved aside. The golden point rapidly lashed out again, Yang batting it away with the forearm of her gauntlet, the sound of steel clashing ringing out.

Her hand shot up and punched into the base of the golden stinger where it met the tail, Ember Celica's report filling Yang's ears. The beast pulled the tail back, but then in a burst of cunning pushed it down between its body and Yang before pushing outward with a wide motion.

Yang was hoisted by the tail and thrown again, this time into a statue. She hit the stone pillar of a Queen of Vacuo three meters off the ground, sharp pain filling her chest as the cracked ribs became well and truly aggravated. She fell to the sands on her face, but she got back to her hand and knees quickly.

A claw strike came in fast like a black and white blur, Yang rolling aside and watching the statue take the hit. Fragments of stone flew everywhere, some hitting her and being turned harmless by her still potent Aura.

Seven Eyes closed on her again and raised a claw, lunging down before fully pulling the pincer up, throwing off Yang's timing. She managed to evade, but felt the rough surface of the claw pass against her thigh, leaving road rash in its wake. The young woman got back up and ran in right for the beast's head. Her hair flared up brighter and her eyes flashed as she set about unloading a flurry, targeting the two small, still good eyes in the White Death's head.

This time the head blows staggered Seven Eyes, if only slightly.

Yang had to escape again, the tail once more coming to the monster's defense. She rolled under the creature's right pincer arm and came up amongst the other set of legs, again attacking the base of one of them viciously.

The monster reacted with considerable cunning, rocking over quickly into Yang, smashing its mass and armored body into her chest and face. She was knocked back out from amongst the legs, the tail striking down twice to keep her moving back. Yang waited for the tail to impact into the sand a third time to charge.

Seven Eyes seemed to almost anticipate the maneuver. As Yang ran past the buried tail the Death Stalker scuttled away in a circular motion, the head closing towards the Huntress. The tail left the sand and whipped in low.

Yang realized what was happening and moved to evade, but it was too late.

The wicked sharp tip of the golden stinger bypassed Yang's Aura and plunged just a centimeter into her left calf above her boot. The stinger was in her leg for only a split second before its movement and Yang's pulled it free, blood on the tip.

The damage was already done.

Yang's leg felt as if it was on fire. She powered through as blood ran and stained the top of her sock and boot, slamming her fist into a middle leg joint, cracking the carapace with her furious blow as the pain worsened and fueled her further.

Seven Eyes continued to circle around, moving away from her quickly.

As Yang turned to give chase the venom reached her heart.

In a heartbeat, it was throughout of her body, burning her veins and brain like acid. Yang seized up, the pain she was feeling so far beyond anything she had ever felt before it paralyzed her where she stood. She felt her muscles spasm uncontrollably, her airway constrict and her heartbeat suddenly slow. Her mouth opened as every vein in her body began to bulge and burn.

A terrible death scream left her lungs as they almost crushed themselves shut. Blood vessels in her eyes burst, her eyes feeling like they were awash in boiling water. Yang's mouth snapped shut and her teeth grinded, her tongue pushing to the roof of her mouth.

She faintly felt the warmth of urine running down her thighs.

Her mind raced as her body seized and her internals slowly necrotized. Yang knew she was dead, the pain so unfathomably terrible she was certain death was close at hand, yet was not coming fast enough. Her life flashed before her eyes as the White Death began to circle about, preparing to come at her to finish the job.

Her fingers clenched down on her thumb so hard the broken fingers managed to break her thumb. Yang grit her teeth harder, her gums beginning to bleed as she stood shivering and dying. Though it all, though, something overrode all the pain, fear and even the burning in her brain. 

Yang's willpower refused to surrender.

She pulled in a breathe with all her will, the hot air like a thousand needles in each lung.

"I AM A HUNTRESS!!" Yang screamed with primal rage as the pain grew worse still.

Seven Eyes drew closer, raising a single claw and opening it.

"I WILL KEEP FIGHTING!!"

Yang's body refused to respond.

Her will insisted.

Her arm came down and closer to her body. Her heartbeat rose back up, spreading the venom around more quickly, driving it deep into organs. Her kidneys and liver burned so fiercely she could feel them beneath her skin.

Her back felt like it had molten steel for a spinal cord.

Yang screamed again, pulling on every bit of the limitless pain her body was experiencing and combined it with every bit of emotional trauma she knew. Yang ran every failure, indignity and abuse through her mind over and over again.

He Who Guards Royal Repose moved his claw around her, Yang standing shaking within the pincer. She looked him in the eyes.

"I!! WILL!! SURVIVE!!"

Seven Eyes closed the claw only to be met with a blast of fire. Yang was no longer in the claw, but rather standing five meters past amongst flame. The fire cleared quickly from the air around Yang and the White Death's claw.

Yang stood tall, no longer seized up from the poison.

Her mane was a fluttering inferno of golden hair training embers and licking from it flames caught in unnatural wind. Her irises were bright, glowing red and her sclera around them was pitch black like crude oil or darkest night. From the edges of her eyes flames licked out, her pupils bright white like the fire of a forge.

Yang's skin almost glowed with inner light, her heart within her chest glowing so brightly it was faintly visible through her bandages. She remained silent and moved with intensity mixed with grace, raising her fist before her. Steam rose out from under Ember Celica.

The power was nearly overwhelming. It was raw, potent and seemingly limitless.

Her Semblance burned hotter than the sun in the middle of July. No. _Hotter still._

With infernal eyes, a predator's sharp face and blood-stained white teeth Yang grinned wide at Death Itself.

Seven Eyes lunged with its other pincer, Yang's hand snapping out and holding the claw at bay. The White Death struggled to push against her, Yang sliding back slowly, her heels digging into the sand as she moved backward. She screamed and threw the claw away from herself, opening the Grimm's guard.

The golden, glowing woman charged in, raised her fist and brought it crashing into Seven Eyes' head with a resounding sonic boom, knocking the creature off balance for a moment. Yang wound up and threw another punch, another thunder crack filling the Valley of the Kings. The Death Stalker stumbled backward on eight legs, its tail lulling around in the air above it.

Yang sneered in unfathomable rage and began hammering on the beast's head, a merciless barrage of punches followed by sonic booms and the thunderous impacts on the legendary Grimm's thick head carapace.

Blow after blow rained down, Yang walking after the monster as it backed away. Each blow worsened the giant scorpion's balance, each strike more telling than the last.

Another punch came down, a small crack forming in Seven Eyes' head carapace.

She was relentless in her assault, now targeting the crack. Yang laid out another dozen blows on the newly formed weakness, shudders running through the White Death's body with each hit. It lashed out at her with its tail in desperation, Yang head butting the side of the stinger and sending the tail flying aside.

The golden stinger slamming into a statue as they passed it, sending rock fragments flying like shrapnel. They shattered upon Yang like puffs of dust and gravel, no harm coming to her skin beneath her powerful Aura.

Yang wound up where she stood and threw a completely reckless haymaker, hitting Seven Eye's square between the five and the two. The White Death shuddered and slumped backwards, falling on its belly, its tail and claws falling to the ground and sending sand billowing out. The glow in the Grimm's red eyes dimmed, but did not extinguish.

Seven Eyes laid still, helpless before Yang. She had defeated Death Itself in the Valley of the Kings. Deep in her burning mind she wondered if Ruby would ever believe her.

Yang's blood still boiled. Her heart and organs were still searing within. Her body wanted to collapse. Above it all, though, her will demanded the creature's life. Yang leered down at it, raising her right leg upward, past her head, preparing to bring it down in a punishing axe kick.

She was going to take each eye from him, one at a time.

"Halt!"

Her foot came back down slowly and planted on the ground. She looked over her shoulder, flames still licking up from her hair, her eyes a glimpse of hell as fire leaked from their edges like tears.

Yang stared at her teacher.

Seven Eyes pushed its legs into the sand, slowly sliding away from Yang. It drug its tail and claws, seemingly too battered and weakened to raise them.

"In all my years, I have never seen something quite like what stands before me."

He looked up at her shadow against the desert sands. It was large and imposing. Inhuman and shaped very wrong. The neck was long with a reptilian head, a large body beneath with a long tail and massive wings resplendent from the back.

"This is the highest expression of your Semblance. Your Aura, control and will have indeed become strong enough to manifest it. You have realized your birthright, Yang Xiao Long."

Yang glanced at the dragon that was her shadow for a moment and then looked back at her teacher, tilting her head. If not for the totality of her will's dominion and the furious pain, such a sight would have troubled her.

"Seven Eyes' will to fight has broken against your own. Allow him to live. He has given you a pain unlike any other that can be found in Remnant. The venom of such an old White Death is, likely, the most painful physical experience one can endure. It will always run in your blood, but it will not kill you. Even now, your Semblance and Aura are changing you to survive with such a thing in your blood."

Yang turned and squared up on her teacher. Her mouth opened, but no words escaped her.

"Speaking was hard for me after the sting as well. It took a little rest to be able to form words again. His venom is a powerful paralytic agent as you well know."

The young woman pointed over her shoulder with her broken thumb at the slowly retreating White Death, her monstrous shadow cast upon it now. Did he know this would happen?

She stared into his eyes, her expression promising death. She found him without fear.

"Yes, I knew you could not defeat Seven Eyes as you were. I knew it was too cunning, too strong and too tough. I knew you would elude his other attacks, but that the wily old scorpion would sting you. It was my intention for you to feel the kiss of his venom."

He gestured to Yang.

"My methods of deprivation and constant effort in the face of collapse have built your Aura into a magnificent inner flame. With proper food, drink and rest it was an inferno this day. By building your willpower's strength through hard struggle and sacrifice you gained the ability to command your pain, dark memories and Aura as you see fit."

She gestured to the fleeing beast once more with her thumb, her expression getting more harsh.

"With those two things in place the Venom of Seven Eyes would either allow you to unlock the full potential of your Semblance or it would have killed you utterly. This put all your training up until now to the test, and I must say, the final product exceeded even my high expectations."

Yang looked at her hand and balled her fingers into a fist. She watched as steam continued to rise from beneath Ember Celica. He had very much toyed with her life. She was furious.

"You have become something more than just a girl." He smirked as Yang glowered. "Well done. The odds were very much against you, but-"

In a burst of flames Yang was upon him, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him from the ground. Her face was the picture of hellish fury. He brought her here to experience a pain beyond mortal comprehension with high odds she would die.

She stared directly into his eyes, challenging him to give her a single reason to let him live. Unshaken jade looked back down into her infernal gaze, his expression matter-of-fact.

"Your training is not yet complete. Your willpower is not what it could be and there is still one more challenge to overcome. In my eyes you are lacking the final component of a true warrior."

Yang's head tilted, the pain coursing through her body and mind no words could do justice. In her frame of mind, his answer was simply not good enough. She closed her hand, having grown tired of his insane methods.

A thunderous report filled her ears, forcing her hand open in shock as something slammed into her chest. She dropped him and stumbled back slowly, looking at her chest. A high caliber Dust slug was deformed flat against her skin and sternum between her breasts, a hole burned in her bandages from the gunshot.

The pain was palpable, especially through her ribs, but a gunshot to the chest was no longer going to stop her. Yang's Aura and Semblance protected her handily. Her heart glowed bright behind her skin and bone through the hole.

Another gunshot sounded and a bullet streaked into her, this one striking her hand as she caught it, Ember Celica being driven back into her forehead. Her head swam only momentarily. She lowered the hand, sporting the beginnings of a black eye and screamed at him.

"As I said, your training is not yet complete. If your willpower was truly unbreakable, you would not give in to blind rage. You have laid hand upon me with violent intent. You know the penalty, Yang."

Yang raised her fist, her long and large shadow moving with her movement, but not identically. She screamed at him again, the fire licking from her eyes and out from her hair growing more intense. All she could fathom was he was shooting her. The pain of betrayal was now added to the inferno in her soul.

She would kill him for this.

He fired Vanquisher again, this time hitting her in the upper left arm, wrenching it aside as his thumb cocked the hammer. She charged, needing to deny his advantage of range. He fired again.

A bright flash filled her eyes and a booming thunderbolt filled her ears, sending vibrations through her body and teeth.

It felt as if a bullet or lightning bolt struck her between the eyes.

Indeed, both had.

Yang slowed to a walk, her eyes flicking between demonic and bloodshot white around purple. Her hair fluttered between blonde and raging, golden inferno. She stopped, her mind awash with various memories as her body went numb, unable to grab onto any thought in particular.

The blow to her head had robbed Yang of her will. She did indeed lack perfect control. Before she could reassert dominion via her willpower he was upon her, his hand coming down revolver handle first in a merciless pistol whip.

It would take another couple of pistol whips to take her consciousness. The last thing Yang saw before the final blow laid her out was a pair of brilliant blue eyes.


	12. Impose Your Will

The sun beat down on her.

Yang's skin had burnt bright red and was peeling. Her orange top and black shorts were covered in the red sand. In spite of all her efforts, sand made it into her boots and socks, as well as other, far less comfortable areas, agitating her skin as she walked. On her back was a heavy Atlesian military pack weighing at least twenty-five kilograms.

They had marched out into the dunes and were coming to the fields of dried, rocky ground well away from the dwelling. Everything looked the same this far out, yet her teacher seemed to know the way.

He had bandaged her leg wound fresh in the morning, using a stinking herbal concoction to keep infection at bay. The pain in her chest, hand and leg was intense. Both of her eyes were blackened with bruises and her bottom lip was split. Yang should have been resting and recovering, but he insisted they train. Yang marched on, down a dune and onto the hard, dry ground, her feet crying out with each step.

"Water..." Yang gasped, her voice hoarse and her throat dry. She had stopped sweating an hour earlier. Dehydration had set in and she knew heat stroke not far off.

"Master please... I need water..."

Her teacher marched alongside her, his bullet belt across his chest and Vanquisher holstered under his left arm. The madman wore his blue denim jacket with white lightning bolt on the back in this blazing heat. He shook his head as her pleading purple eyes bracketed in black bruises looked into his.

"You have not earned such a luxury. We still have many, many kilometers to go."

This was what they had been at for two weeks. Constant marches into the desert and back to the dwelling by nightfall.

Yang had quickly come to regret her decision to train with this madman. Every day they undertook this meaningless task out in the blazing sun and when she inevitably collapsed, he beat her until she stood.

At least a half-dozen blows fell upon her a day.

At first, she fell often, but the bite of a punch or kick quickly brought her back to her feet. More recently, Yang only fell once or twice a day. It took longer for her to stand, but that meant more blows. Her eyes had been perpetually black with bruises since day one.

Each day, Yang received only a single glass of water in the morning and in the evening. During the second evening, after her first full day of proper training she almost poured more water down her neck and the front of her chest than down her throat.

He lashed out at her, slapping the glass away. She scrambled for it, but he had none of it, picking her up by the neck and slamming her down on the stone slab in his home. Yang did not move out of fear and weakness.

That first night after training she felt for sure she would die.

As the days wore on, any attempt to guzzle or pour the water down her throat was met with similar treatment. Even the morning glass of water had begun provoking Yang's primal need for hydration which, in turn, brought his wrath when she drank too quickly. He preached patience and self-control each time. She did get some water from each glass, but not enough.

She earned the split lip two evenings ago when she was too frantic for her water and he back-handed the glass, and her face, aside.

The food situation was not much better. Vacuo surplus rations were what was on the menu every night. Being very dry by necessity, it was difficult food to eat without enough water in addition to the poor flavor and lacking nutrition. It was also only a single meal.

The effects of lack of proper nutrition, rest and hydration were starting to show. Yang was certain her breasts had shrank a half cup size and she could feel her ribs with more clarity beneath her skin. Her wounds and bones were not healing nearly as quickly as they should have been.

Heat stroke was becoming a daily occurrence. Hallucinations set in a few days earlier. 

Every night Yang thought when she closed her eyes it would be her last. She invited the end each night, only to awaken each morning, more worn down and battered, but still alive.

Still in pain.

Today was harder than every day before. Yang took a few more steps along the dried ground and shuddered under the weight of her pack. There was nothing in it but rocks and every day he added a few more. He was not training her to fight. Every day, all they did all day was marched.

Yang could not see the point of any of it. This was not what she agreed to, but it was too late now.

She let out a long exhale, finally too exhausted to go on, and collapsed to her knees, doubling over and planting her face into the dust, coughing.

Yang groaned, unable to muster words.

He stood over her, staring down without the slightest bit of concern, the sun high above him.

"Get back up."

Yang slowly shook her head.

"Now."

She knew what that meant. Not wanting another beating, Yang planted her forearm against the burning earth and pushed, rising slowly in spite of the weight on her back and the further burden of her injuries. She leaned upright, now on her knees.

No further could she go, however. Her legs felt dead beneath her.

In the distance, she swore she saw her sister standing on a dune, red cloak fluttering in some unfelt wind. Ruby was reaching out to her, tears streaming from her silver eyes.

"Ruby..."

He glanced over his shoulder and then back down at her. "That is a mirage."

"... so... real..."

His head shook. "Just as much an illusion as yesterday and the day before. Get back up."

A whining noise left Yang's throat. She tried to push down with her legs, placing her hand on the ground and pushing with it as well in spite of her fingers. Nothing happened. She could not get any upward momentum.

She looked to her left, watching Blake cry. The Faunus was kneeling in the sand, watching her suffer. Yang looked away, unable to bear seeing Blake like that.

"Blake..."

"That is a hallucination as well."

A red blade came down lightly on her shoulder from behind. Yang tilted her head back and looked up, finding Adam's mask staring down at her. He wrenched the blade into her neck, Yang croaking and screaming faintly, her eyes going wide.

"No... no... no." She grabbed her neck and leaned to the left, falling into the sand. She pulled her hand from her neck, seeing her blood covering it. Yang closed her eyes, Blake coming to her side, crying as she watched her partner die.

Only one concern flashed through Yang's mind. "Don't hurt her..."

Her teacher sighed, sitting down in a meditation pose before Yang. He poked her in one of her closed eyes. "What is it now?"

Yang laid silent, accepting her death, feeling Blake's warm tears on her cheek. She could hear the woman sobbing.

"What you are experiencing is severe heat stroke, dehydration and a slight case of malnutrition. In short, you are dying. Yang Xiao Long, how are you ever going to get stronger if you just invite death every time it comes for you?"

She realized, through the haze of hallucination, pain, oppressive heat and the sound of Blake whispering goodbye into her ear that she still lived.

"... too... weak."

"Good, that means everything you do right now counts very much. Do you know that every hour of effort at this point is worth days at full or even half strength in terms of building Aura, control and physical resilience?"

He tapped her eye again, Yang slowly opening both of them, shifting her head slightly to meet his viridian gaze. His expression was slowly growing harder.

"Yang, you are squandering valuable training time and I am growing impatient. You will stand back up."

"My... legs..."

"Probably hurt very much. They probably feel dead in your mind." He shook his head. "That does not matter."

Yang blinked. She knew there was no mercy to be had from him, but she had no idea what else she could do but talk. "I can't... stand... anymore..."

"No, it is not that you cannot, Yang. It is that you do not wish to. If you wanted to stand up and keep going, you would. You did yesterday and the day before after some motivation."

He raised his hand and curled it into a fist. He was going to begin 'motivating' her.

Her teacher punched her in the mouth, wiping her head down into the sand. "Get back up."

Yang lifted her face from the sand, a bit of blood at the side of her mouth and her split-lip bleeding again. Sand stuck to her blood and wounded lip. The punch hurt, but she did not care anymore.

He hit her again, this time in the chest. Her ribs lit aflame and Yang exhaled sharply, but she did not jump or curl up. She laid there, recovering her breathe slowly and wishing she did not.

She looked up at him with lifeless eyes. Every time before, she jumped or winced or her eyes widened in fear before the blow. Every time, after the blow, she would begin scrambling to her feet.

This time she laid still like a corpse. If not for the breathing and open eyes, she would have resembled one.

"I see fear, pain and the fear of pain does not motivate you now." He pulled his revolver from his holster, cocked the hammer and put the barrel flush to her forehead. "What of death? If you will not stand then I might as well kill you."

He had never threatened that before. It did not matter. Yang reached up slowly, grabbed the barrel and opened her mouth, putting the first inch in, bleeding on the blue steel.

She hoped he would just end her suffering.

His eyes narrowed. "No fear of death either?"

She closed her eyes and waited patiently for the end.

"Very well then. You will not get off that lightly either way."

He pulled the barrel out of her dried, cracked lips and lowered the hammer with his thumb. Her teacher cleaned the bull barrel on his pant leg, leaving a bit of Yang's blood on the denim and replaced Vanquisher.

"In that case, since you are so inured against fear, pain and threat of death I am left with no choice but to find someone you care about, bring them before you and beat them instead. I can determine Ruby or Blake's whereabouts quickly, Yang."

Yang's eyes opened slowly. This was a new tactic and she did not like it. She felt the slightest bit of hate in her chest. They had nothing to do with any of this, yet he was using them, again, to manipulate her. Anger welled up, even in spite of how tired she was.

"Fuck... you."

"If I slap Blake around for a while would you lay still? If I punch Ruby in the stomach will you just stay down? Is this the kind of woman you have become? One who will allow someone to harm those you care for?"

"Fuck you."

"Harsh words. Is that all you will muster to defend them?" He sighed, prodding the tip of her nose with a fingertip. "Let us speak for a moment. I have a question and an important one."

"What?"

His eyes narrowed and he pointed at her nose.

"What, Master?"

He nodded. "Yang, what the hell are you?"

"Angry."

He shook his head. "No Yang, what do you aspire to be? Why did you attend Signal and then Beacon? What do you hope to become?"

Yang maintained eye contact. She was wondering why he was not beating on her, but his question did resonate with her. "A... Huntress."

"Very good." He nodded, lifting his right hand and turning it palm up to the sky in a slowly gesture. "Now, in order to become something, one must first believe they are indeed that thing." His hand balled into a fist. "So Yang, what are you?"

"A Huntress."

"Does a Huntress just give up or does she keep fighting? Does she succumb to injury and exhaustion, or does she put the safety of others beyond her own needs and desires?" He shook his fist slightly. "Does a Huntress not fight on to the bitter end?"

Yang nodded, knowing it to be true. At least, true to how she saw what a Huntress was.

"Yes."

His hand opened and came to rest in his lap with his left. "So what are you going to do? Lay there and let me threaten the woman you care about and your sister or are you going to keep fighting?"

She took a hard, dry swallow. She closed her eyes, focusing for a moment on his words. She understood where he was going with this, even if it was unspoken.

"If I give up... others might be hurt for it."

"Very astute. You will not be plied by pain or fear of death. This is an aim I have for you, though out of courage on your feet and not apathy laying upon the ground. It is admirable for a Huntress or any warrior to fight on through pain and fear in the face of death."

He raised his right hand again, extending his index finger from his closed grasp.

"However, others will fear pain and death. Others will be moved by pain or threat of death. These people, a Huntress protects. Now then, a Huntress cannot protect anyone if she lays down to die, Yang. So, what are you going to do?" 

Yang reopened her violet eyes, coming to grips with this lesson. She swallowed hard, her mouth and throat dry.

"Keep... fighting."

"That is correct." He got back to his feet and took a step back, her eyes rising from his black boots and past denim and white shirt to his face. "You cannot fight down there, Yang Xiao Long. Get back up. Your body says no. Your will shall say yes. Now, show your body who commands you."

Yang closed her eyes again, summoning all the strength she could, concentrating and reaching deep down into herself, looking for that last full measure. Her hand planted on the ground, pushing her over, face down into the dirt.

She snorted, sending dust wafting from the sides of her face, and pushed down against the ground, her legs finally responding, if only in some small measure. Yang slowly lifted her body from the sand, her side and front covered in the red sands of Vacuo. She got a few centimeters off the ground and collapsed.

Her teacher opened his mouth, but was cut off as Yang slowly began to rise again. His lips closed, the man watching on in silence. The young woman pushed her hand into the earth again, along with her knees. She got higher this time before falling again under the weight of the pack.

He watched on for the next four minutes, Yang struggling to rise, but always falling back down. Slowly, however, after many attempts, Yang got higher than before, almost a full meter between her stomach and chest and the ground. She was an arch, her pack resting atop her back.

Yang clenched her teeth, curling her hand into a fist in the dirt. She extended her arm as far as it would go and stilled herself, only faintly shaking under the pack. Thoughts raced through her mind. Her father, her mother, Ruby, Blake and even her friend Weiss.

Her joke of a battle with Adam. Her battle alongside her father. His blood on her hands and her mother's lack of kindness. The cold barrel of a gun to her chin and her finger on a trigger. The beatings over the past two weeks.

Yang was tired. She was tired of being unable to protect those she cared for.

Yang was tired of being a failure.

She was going to get back up. To hell with her body.

Her lips parted and a hoarse, guttural scream left her as she bent her knees inward, lowering slightly. She bent her arm downward, then thrust it out like a punch with all the might she had left.

Yang felt herself come up, the weight of the pack shifting as it pulled her. She stumbled backward and slid back on a leg, using it to halt her backtracking. She was shaking, her legs wobbling under her as she pulled them closer together.

She turned, looking her teacher in the eyes, finally back on her feet. She could hardly believe it, but she got back up. Her emotions were in a bundle, but stood she did on her own two feet, nothing to lean upon.

He looked her in the eyes, cold and harsh jade on weary, black-eyed amethysts. Both his hands came down on her shoulders, squeezing them.

"What are you?"

"A Huntress."

"What are you going to do, Yang?"

She took a deep breathe, her ribs almost burning in her chest. "Keep fighting."

He nodded. "And?"

Yang titled her head, not sure what to say. What would she do aside keep fighting?

"You will survive, Yang Xiao Long." Her teacher relaxed his grip and then squeezed her shoulders again. "You will not just fight on Huntress, you will survive."

"Survive," the young woman whispered. Her teacher nodded, Yang standing up straight now, finding some deep reservoir of willpower to keep on her feet.

"What are you?"

"A Huntress."

"What are you going to do?"

"Keep fighting."

"And?"

"Survive."

He released her shoulders, Yang swooning a little, but staying on her feet. He pointed at her.

"In the face of everything, you will always survive. That does not mean running away, Yang. Even in the face of the impossible, you will fight and survive."

Her teacher lowered his hand, raising his chin slightly, looking down his nose at her with cold, hard eyes like a bird of prey. She looked up at him.

"One day you will fight on so fiercely, so boldly and so completely with a conviction so unshakeable and a willpower so impervious you will walk on broken feet and run on broken legs. You will enjoy the sweet air in spite of the dagger plunged into your chest. A hammer blow or dozen more to your head will fail to rob you of your will. Nothing will stay your wrath."

She stared up at him in stunned silence. What he was talking about sounded impossible. The tone of his voice both inspired and frightened her.

Yang could see he believed this. More so, she knew he believed he could teach her this.

Something told her he was speaking from experience, not idealism.

His chin came down, but the intensity did not leave his green gaze. "Mastery of your body is the first and most important step. If you can overcome your physical needs and fight on in spite of everything your body will summon to stop you, that is an entire facet of combat you will never worry over again. You will be surprised how hard you are to kill if the loss of an arm or being run through does not stop you. You will be surprised how terrified your foes may become."

"The Grimm won't care..."

"They never do. However, was it a Grimm that took your arm and laid your father low? Is it Grimm that, at this moment, Blake fights from the shadows and your sister hunts in the sunlight?" He shook his head. "There are far more sinister things than Grimm in Remnant, Yang. They are amongst the Human and the Faunus; evil men and women."

Her eyes narrowed just a little. "And they can feel fear."

"Precisely. Now then, learning to overcome hunger, thirst and sleep deprivation and their myriad effects as well as fatigue and pain will eventually allow you to ignore a spear driven through your belly. As this is a willpower exercise, it will even allow you to better wield your Aura as well as pain within your being to fuel your Semblance."

Yang nodded slowly again, understanding where he was going with this lesson. This was why he attacked her for lack of control while drinking her water. This was all the building blocks for something greater.

"If I can overcome the limitations of my body, I will be better able to fight and protect those I care for. I still want some water, Master, but I-"

He pulled his canteen from his belt as she trailed off and watched. Her teacher opened the cap and held it out the container slowly. Yang stared at the offered canteen, her eyes wide with disbelief. She kept herself from lunging for it, but only by the thinnest of margins.

"You may have a drink. Do not spill a drop and maintain your control. Impose your will on your body, Yang. You are dying from lack of water. I can see this and you know it to be true. Only take a little and keep living. Ignore everything you know or feel about how much water you need. Your body does not tell you. You tell your body."

She reached out with a shaky hand, her instincts screaming out for her to guzzle every last drop and give her body the water it was so desperate for. Yang took the canteen and brought it to her lips, but something stopped her.

Was what he was selling her even possible? Doubt filled her mind and her body cried out for every last drop of water she could get from the canteen. Yang looked into his eyes, searching for guidance as her entire body began to quake.

"Master..."

"You doubt what I say, but I am living proof what I claim is possible. You watch me do this every day on far less water than you enjoy, Yang. Impose your will." His expression hardened as he glared down at her like a predatory bird. "Do not disappoint me."

Yang could smell the water. If her mouth could it would have grown wet. She lifted the mouth of the canteen to her lips slowly, her hand shaking more intensely.

"Take a deep breathe. Assert your willpower. You are not dying of thirst, you just want to have a little water." His eyes narrowed on Yang's. "Focus. By your own words, you 'want' water. Need is irrelevant."

The rim of the canteen touched her lips, Yang shutting her eyes and calling upon all her willpower to not just rock the canteen over. She raised it slowly in her shaking grasp until, after what seemed like an eternity of suffering, wetness graced her lips and mouth.

She drank slowly, sipping and tilting back a bit more, letting the water go down her throat in measured gulps, each one drawing protest from her ribs. It was sweet and cool. After three gulps her hand came down, not wanting to disappoint her teacher.

Not wanting to disappoint herself.

It was a paltry sum of water, maybe a tenth of a liter, but it made a difference like no other. Yang grasped the canteen tight, but slowly held it back out to her teacher. She opened her eyes, offering it to him.

He took back his canteen, cleaned her blood from the mouth on his jacket sleeve, sealed it and placed it in his belt.

"Thank you, Master."

"Yang Xiao Long, I am impressed." He smirked at her, a hint of approval in his eyes. "That must have taken monumental willpower considering your current physical condition. Today's training has been going well. Are you ready to continue and finish strong? Will you choose to survive another day and awaken tomorrow?"

Yang smirked, buying in completely.

"Water we waiting for?"

Her teacher's eyes narrowed. "What? Are you slurring your speech... ?"

"Get it?" She insisted, a glint in her purple eyes. "Water. We waiting for?"

He blinked and leaned his head back a little. "Huh... I see..."

"Oh, I get it... you prefer dry humor."

He grumbled.

Yang smiled wide, her white teeth almost reflecting the sun in a glint.

Her teacher pointed into the distance. "We have got more marching to do. Get to it."

"I've got more lines... but they are all watered down."

"Yang..."

"Aw... no more sweetness from you, Master? Well, still plenty of desert."

Her teacher blinked and scratched his beard. "Well damn. I guess you really are learning fast. To have so much will and vinegar in the face of all this. I think you have advanced enough we can add another two kilometers on top of our planned twenty."

Yang's face faulted, a faint glint of horror overcoming her sun and sand worn features. He could not be serious. She was barely on her feet, just trying to lighten the mood.

"Wha... what?"

Her teacher looked into Yang's eyes, his expression deathly serious. "I see your smile and optimism have been disarmed."

She blinked a few times, his choice of words sinking in. "You son of a..." Her teacher smiled wide and glanced at her right arm. Yang felt her anger come up. "Oh, you son of bitch!!" 

He leaned in, Yang preparing for the reprisal for calling him names. He merely elbowed her in the stomach gently.

"Get it?"

Yang fumed to herself. She took a deep breathe, realizing she did indeed start this. "Forget I ever used a pun around you, okay Master? Let's just get this march over with."

"It is April, you know?"

Yang groaned. So this was what it was like?

Her teacher nodded. "Yes, you are right. No sense in just sanding around."

She sighed. Why did she start this with him?

"Come then, just the planed twenty. Let us move! One more pun though and I will put those kilometers back!"

Yang stood still as he turned. He took a few steps, halted and looked over his shoulder questioningly. Threateningly. She took a deep breathe. Something inside of her appealed past her weariness and injury.

Why should she accept relief from pain and weariness at the cost of who she was?

If the price of being herself was two more kilometers or a hundred, so be it. Let the consequences be what they may. Yang was not going to change that part of her personality to appease this man. She would train under him and learn all he had to impart, but she would not abandon her values or individuality for it.

"You're right, no sense in Yanging around."

He looked into her eyes for a moment, the silence broken only by the faint whistle of the breeze moving over the sand. She searched his green eyes for some hint of what punishment was to come. Yang half expected him to lunge at her and batter her for provoking him.

Instead, a faint smile spread across his face and his jade eyes lit up slightly. He nodded in approval. "You have earned two more kilometers in exchange for not compromising the woman you are. Yang, be prepared to pay higher prices in the future to uphold your values and protect what you consider dear, but it is good to see you are willing to endure for what you desire or believe in. That, too, is an important lesson."

He gestured to the horizon.

"Now I must also walk these twenty-two kilometers. Well done, you wiseass."

"Just another service I provide."

Her teacher smirked and shook his head. He laughed slightly. Yang could barely believe it.

"Twenty-four. Come on, let us move out."

Yang felt her throat tighten and the tug of emotion as he turned and started walking again. She had no idea that was a test. Was it really a test or just coincidence and her own stubborn nature proving fruitful? Was it reverse-psychology? Was this a mechanism for her to increase her workload if she felt she could without saying as much?

She was very confused, his methods more than what met the eye. 

As it was, she felt slightly renewed between the water and his approval. Yang followed after, ready to continue her training. Two more puns and twenty-eight kilometers later, her body regretted ever syllable of her wit spoken.

Yang Xiao Long, however, regretted not a letter.


	13. That Last, Most Crucial Piece

A haze of pain passed over Yang as she stirred.

Her eyes were slow to open, her blood still burning faintly. Every injury she had taken, every broken bone, every bruise and laceration of her skin ached. She could smell the metallic hint of blood tainted by a sickening sweetness.

It was the venom in her blood she smelled. Yang was certain of it.

She shook with chills, everything before her eyes a blur.

Yang groaned, the pain in her head coming through more clearly. She realized quickly she was lying on gravel and wrapped in a blanket. In spite of being so flush to the ground, vertigo set in and she swooned. Her skull felt like it was badly bruised, her brain pounding with a massive headache.

Her chest followed quickly, the feeling of heavy weight upon it in spite of laying on her right side. Yang's breathing was shallow and ragged.

"You are awake. Good."

Her eyes focused in on the voice, finding her teacher in a meditation pose, sitting nearby. He had his jacket on and the satchel laid nearby him. At some point he must have taken her back to the dwelling. Her teacher did not bring his jacket for the hunt. Nor a blanket.

Beyond him she saw a metal box. Yang grew confused. Something long rested on the metal object, but she could not make it out in the gloom of night and the throbbing headache made it hard for her to concentrate on anything.

She began to shake as the cool night air passed over her face. Yang pulled the green wool military surplus blanket in tighter, looking upward, through the clear sky to the impressive field of stars and the cracked moon.

"You... tried to kill me." Yang's voice was a rasp, barely audible to her own ears, the ringing of gunshots still filling them with faint tinnitus. Words were hard to form due to her distressed breathing, every few demanding a new breathe.

"You... son of a... bitch."

"I did not try to kill you. I placed you into a situation where you would live or die, certainly, but not with the intent to end your life. I needed to see if you had indeed come as far as I suspected. If you had learned enough to will your body out of paralysis and to turn overwhelming pain into fuel for your Semblance."

He looked down at her, his expression cold and humorless.

"You did both. Good show."

"Fuck... you. You shot me."

"You tried to kill me first. I needed to subdue you. I did not think it would take a Thunderbolt Round between the eyes, but well, you have exceeded my expectations. You are one tough woman once your Semblance is at its highest expression."

"I'm going... to kill you."

"There will be time enough for that later. Before we move on to your final lesson, I want to show you something."

"I'm done... with this... madness."

"Not yet. Not quite. After all there is still the final test." He looked out in the distance. "Do you know where we are?"

Yang figured they were under the stars in a camp, but she noticed there was no fire. The gravel shifted minimally beneath her. There was also the question of the metal box. It was large and looked vented. She was so out of it, yet curiosity reared its head.

"No."

"We are not in the desert anymore." He looked over at Yang. "We did a lot of traveling while you were unconscious. Rise and see for yourself."

She groaned, but decided the sit up. She needed to know the lay of the land should she decide to try to kill him now. It was slow going, but not even broken fingers, ribs or blood laced with burning venom could keep her down. Yang sat up, wrapped the blanket around herself and looked out.

"Where... are we?"

Before her was an array of metallic silos, some tall and relatively thin, the others squat and broad. A number of warehouses and an administrative building lined the distance, beyond that a fence and beyond that, very far beyond, the lights of a city. She looked at one of the silos and found a badly faded snowflake painted on it in peeling white paint.

"This... this is a-"

"The abandoned Schnee Dust Corporation Dust Storage Facility for Vacuo. They moved into a new, more secure facility years ago after a number of White Fang raids and, just as certainly I am sure, spying efforts from Vacuo Black Ops. Muad'Dib is very good at getting into places it is not welcome and escaping into the desert with secrets."

"The Dust... Water tablets." Yang whispered, remembering his mention of their origin.

"Very astute, as always." He gestured to the horizon. "Beyond are the lights of the Kingdom of Vacuo proper. The Jewel of the Desert glitters beautifully in the night. However, I digress."

The man looked back at Yang and pointing to a building in the near-distance.

"Look to the number three building, past the unrefined Dust storage tanks. The administrative building. Do you see that little window? The only one lit and dimly so?"

Yang moved her gaze to the window and noted it was indeed the only one lit. She knew not why. She wondered what in the world they were doing here of all places, sitting on top of some building.

"Do you see it?"

"Yes."

"Keep an eye on it. It should not be much longer."

She shivered under her blanket, the night air harrying her in such a weakened state. Yang looked at her teacher, finding the man sitting patiently, his eyes scanning the facility. He did not seem the least bit bothered by the cold or her attitude. The first made sense to her, but not the second.

Yang knew she had attacked him. She tried to kill him. She remembered her actions with perfect clarity in spite of the condition of her head. Yang knew that meant broken bones. Yet, aside her throbbing head and the untreated stinger wound on her leg slowly seeping yellowish blood, nothing else seemed damaged.

It was as if he plucked her from the floor of the Valley of the Kings, took her to the dwelling and then brought her here.

That troubled her. They had gone days out into the desert, well away from their normal training grounds. Was the Valley of the Kings that much closer than she realized? Did he travel at high speed unbroken through the day? How did they get this close to the city-center of Vacuo so fast?

Was she unconscious for more than one day?

"You have questions." He looked at her, Yang now recognizing the metal box beyond him as a climate control unit. "I can see it in your demeanor and in your searching, purple eyes Yang."

"You didn't... break anything... new."

"You have at least one concussion and a bruise on your forehead. I shot you many times. You deserve worse for attempting to take my life. You very nearly succeeded."

"How did... we get here?"

He smiled at her and looked back to the sky. "Worry not of it. Simply enjoy the calm."

Yang sighed and clenched her teeth, her body aching all over. She could tell her Aura was very nearly spent. His attack on her was brutal and had consumed most of her Aura saving her from a fatal blow. That could not have been all, though.

It occurred to Yang that the venom had some hand in her lack of Aura. She wondered if it was being consumed fighting off the effects or if it was spent 'changing her' as her Master claimed.

After a couple of minutes, her Master's head tilted slightly.

"What?" Yang whispered.

"They are here." He gestured a finger upward. "A little late, it is just after eleven, but they are finally here."

Yang looked up, her eyes widening. A few armed Bullheads glided past in the night sky, no lights or markings on them. Their engines were quiet, what looked to be advanced baffles installed on them. She began frantically looking over the building tops, noticing figures moving in the shadows.

A glance down into the storage yard confirmed her fear.

Masked men and women clad in black and white, some with noticeable animal features, moved into position quickly passing through the lights of the silos. They were armed with rifles and assorted hand weapons.

"White Fang." She looked back at her teacher, her heart racing, the burning sensation in her blood increasing, causing her to wince. "What the hell... is going on here?"

"They are here, in force, to settle old business." Her teacher looked into Yang's wide purple eyes, his jade narrowing and hard. "They have come for one they seek."

Yang lifted her arm out of the blanket, looking for Ember Celica and finding it gone. "My weapon... where is it... you bastard?"

"What does it matter? They have not come for you. Just watch."

"No. Someone... has to stop this. Whatever they... are here for... it can't be good."

"It certainly is not." He looked back out at the dimly lit window. "Keep your voice down. If they hear us they will come for us, too."

"Fuck you."

His hand lashed up, chopping Yang in the throat with the ridge, stunning her vocal cords. She grabbed her neck, her lungs pulling for air through the bruised, stunned windpipe. Yang could not speak or even scream. She called upon her will, but her head swam at the lack of oxygen, her injuries piled too high for her willpower to win through quickly.

"Sit still. It shall pass. As I said, all you need to do is watch."

Yang's thoughts began to flash past. Was this where her father was hidden? Was this where Ruby and others she was traveling with now were staying? Was Weiss here?

Suddenly, it dawned on her.

She looked back to her teacher, unable to believe how sadistic he had to be to do something like this. Was this her punishment for attempting to kill him? She tried to speak her name, but Yang's vocal cords could not form the word. The venom combined with the blow had stunned them fully once more.

She could not even scream out a warning. Fear filled her head and her heart pounded fast and hard, filling her body with pain as the venom coursed once more.

"Yes, they have come for her." He looked at Yang. "Raven informed me Blake has been hiding out here for just over two weeks, sabotaging their efforts quite admirably. Three hours ago, an anonymous informant tipped off the White Fang."

Her teacher prodded himself in the chest with his outstretched thumb as he pulled down his jacket collar. There was a dark bruise in the shape of a feminine hand around his neck where she grabbed him up in the Valley of the Kings.

"Now I am going to really hurt you, Yang."

Yang tried to stand, but he was on her quickly, grabbing her and holding her fast, his right hand wrapping around her chest and seizing her left arm. He threw her to the gravel, jumped on her and punched her in the stomach, knocking out Yang's wind with one brutal blow.

His left hand grabbed up her hair as he knelt on Yang, forcing her to look to the window as she laid down, half stunned and unable to cry out.

"Here they go."

White Fang fighters kicked in the door of the building and ran in, some jumping down from the top of the building, holding on to the edge and going into windows boots first. A Bullhead came in low and hit the window with a spotlight.

Gunfire rang out within moments. There were flashes in the window.

Yang fought against him, but he was simply too strong and she was too weak. He hit her again, directly on her broken ribs, stunning her with pain that in her weariness was overwhelming. She could not summon her will. Her injuries were too much and her Aura far too depleted.

Within thirty seconds the window shattered out, a black and white figure jumping free.

A split-second later, there was an explosion from the window that illuminated the facility grounds.

Blake Belladonna landed three stories below gracefully in a roll and began fighting her way out of the cordon set up by the White Fang. The blade of Gambol Shroud flashed through the night like a deadly phantom as gunfire poured onto her position. She weaved through the fire, striking foe after foe with her bladed whip and her scabbard, her white long coat flowing in the night breeze and her body clad in black clothing and boots.

She dropped a few White Fang, made a hole in their line and ran in three directions. One copy was taken out quickly by gunfire, the second reaching approaching White Fang and detonating into a fireball when struck with a sword, knocking two to the concrete lit aflame.

Blake proper made a run down the middle lane, only to be halted by a barrage of rotary cannon fire from the Bullhead on station. The young woman was forced to take a left turn.

Yang's head was forced to follow.

She struggled more. A noise escaped her throat, her vocal cords finally recovering somewhat. His knee wound back and slammed into her belly. Her Master hit her across the mouth with a punch, Yang's blood splattering onto the edge of the rooftop.

"You do not fully understand the extent of pain. The worst physical pain was what Seven Eyes had to offer." He leaned in close, his breathe in her ear. "But there are far more sinister things in this world than Grimm, Yang. This will give you the worst possible emotional pain to carry for the rest of your days. She is skilled, but heavily out numbered. They will corner Blake and they will kill her."

Yang's mind raced as she struggled. This could not be happening. This had to be a horrible nightmare. 

"You will watch it all, helpless. Just as I had to watch my lover die in the claws of Seven Eyes. Welcome to your final lesson, Yang. Truest pain is off the emotion, not the body."

Yang groaned, shaking in his grip, trying to wrench her head free. This was his sick and twisted plan. His final, horrible lesson. She wanted to close her eyes, but could not take them off Blake as she ran for her life, White Fang fighters cutting off her avenues of escape one at a time.

Another burst of rotary cannon fire broke the night, forcing Blake to take a turn right into a group of a dozen White Fang. She started fighting immediately, Gambol Shroud taking a heavy toll, a hit landing on her in kind only to reveal a stone clone.

Blake ambushed the White Fang from the shadows, taking down two quickly with her sword and forcing a third into cover with her gunfire.

A Bullhead came in low nearby, a single figure jumping free. Yang started to fight harder against the madman holding her bound as she caught a good look at the new arrival.

Adam Taurus approached the fight slowly, his sword at his side and his red hair and black coat flowing from the turbine wash of the Bullhead as it pulled off.

"No," Yang groaned, finally forming the word. Tears began to streak from her eyes. Not this man. Not another person she cared for. "No!"

Her Master's fist came down mercilessly on her face. Yang's nose started bleeding along with her mouth. She kept her eyes focused below.

Blake noticed Adam, the remaining White Fang around her backing away and being joined by more, their numbers quickly swelling to three dozen. The spotlight of a Bullhead fell on Blake like harsh starlight, the young woman turning slowly, apparently taking stock.

Blake looked back to Adam, words exchanged that Yang could not pick up.

"That is the man who took your arm, is it not? That is the man who killed your father?"

Yang's mouth opened, a scream welling up inside at the news. It was muted and strained, barely audible, but the tears flowed. Why was this happening to her? After everything she had been through, now she had to find out her father's fate and watch Blake's unfold.

Why was he visiting such brutality and betrayal upon her? Yang knew he was mad, but this was so far beyond the pale she could hardly accept it.

A knee to the ribs brought her back to reality with brutal clarity.

"I wonder if your mother knew I would go this far to bring you to her lofty standard? I think she did. She started this, you know? Leaving you so young. Abandoning you. Giving me Blake's whereabouts." He shook his head, glaring down at her like a green-eyed nightmare as Yang looked back up. "What can you do? This was nearly two decades in the making, Yang. Just be thankful that is not Summer's little girl. It could have been."

Her Master was a monster. Yang now knew it.

Adam and Blake engaged, two flashes playing out a deadly dance in the ring of White Fang, their clashing weapons echoing. Gunshots quickly followed, Adam cutting Blake in half, only for a stone clone to fall in two before him. Blake attacked from a flank, forcing Adam to defend, but quickly he regained the upper hand, the woman falling back under gunfire from Blush and lashing out with Gambol Shroud to cover her movement.

Yang continued to struggle against her sadistic teacher, trying to free her arm. She kicked with both of her legs, trying to push off against the building's roof to push him away. He pulled her up, slammed his fist into her stomach and got behind her.

He moved her legs over the edge of the building, denying Yang their leverage. One of his arms pinned her arm to her body and wrapped her up. The other grabbed her hair once more. He knelt behind her and on her, looking over her shoulder and forcing her to watch.

"You cannot save her, Yang. Just sit back and enjoy the execution. Hopefully, it is quick." He paused. "He will make an example of her, will he not? It will not be quick, will it?"

Yang let out a whisper of a scream, primal and gut wrenching. None could hear it, save the man holding her. Yang began to thrash in his grasp, summoning all her willpower, calling upon all the pain she had known and now felt, trying to fire her Semblance.

In turn, his arm tightened around her, his strength allowing him to slowly crush her abdomen below her diaphragm. He was denying her air. Yang's will to fight was beginning to evaporate for lack of oxygen.

"Your Semblance cannot fire for the venom in your blood demands that last bit of Aura you have left. Not even your impressive willpower can summon it from this task for it would mean death. You cannot change this result, Yang. For attacking me your deserve this fate. By your mother's wishes, you shall have a lifetime's worth of pain to summon for you Semblance at eighteen years of age. This is done and you have no say. Accept it. Watch on helpless and complete your training."

Adam finally broke through Blake's ranged advantage. She eluded strike after strike, but a blow fell on her thigh and Blake's blood spilled upon the concrete. Yang choked on a scream as Blake staggered and continued fighting, but a smash of Blush across the brunette Faunus' face knocked her down.

Adam planted a boot on Blake's chest, pointing Wilt at her neck.

Blake released her weapon slowly, another of the White Fang kicking it away.

"And here we come to the crescendo of your final lesson, Yang."

His whisper cut past everything running through her mind and heart. Yang's wide eyes started down at the scene. There was nothing she could do, the air in her lungs being crushed from her as if she was caught in the grasp of a snake of a man.

"Now she is going to die. Carry this memory with you for the rest of your days, Yang Xiao Long. This will be your greatest failure as Shino's death was mine. I could not save the woman I loved. You cannot save Blake. You will carry her death as your greatest source of pain."

Adam kicked Blake, pushing the blade to her neck again when she raised a hand. Two White Fang grabbed Blake up and brought her to a kneeling position, a third tying her hands behind her back.

The Leader of the White Fang began addressing those assembled. The words 'traitor's fate' reached Yang through her ringing ears. They were going to execute her. Adam was going to behead her.

Blake was going to be murdered right before her eyes and she could do nothing.

Though she never fully trusted her Master, he had betrayed her utterly. He knew exactly how to hurt Yang in the end. He had defeated her. He had sunk so low as to visit pain and death upon Blake to harm Yang.

Her body quit for lack of air and energy, her mind surrendered for lack of options or hope and her heart was utterly obliterated by betrayal and the realization Blake would die before her very eyes. Every fiber of Yang's being wanted to cease to be. Her body and mind only desired oblivion.

However, somewhere, farther down than Yang ever imagined, something came to her. In her soul, the very core of her willpower and self-identify, Yang refused to accept this.

Yang Xiao Long would not give up even if everything physical and mental about her did. She would act, no matter how difficult her body or the situation made it. If it cost her life, so be it. Her choice was made. She would save the woman she loved or she would die alongside her fighting.

There was still that spark of Aura which kept the venom from killing her. She needed it, but the last bit of her Aura would not respond. Yang insisted and it refused.

_She demanded it._

"So you have finally accepted your fate?"

Yang clenched her teeth, her eyes flashing to red, her hair catching golden fire. Her Semblance activated and the burning pain of the venom of Seven Eyes returned all at once.

" **Never.** " A faint hint of heat and the smallest flash of flame licked from Yang's lips with the word.

She pushed out her shoulders, gaining a little against him and moved her head aside. Yang slammed it back, driving her skull into his forehead. She felt him shudder around her, his grip weakening for just a split second as they skidded back on the gravel from the edge, pulling her legs back onto the building.

The slack would be enough.

She broke free and sprung to her feet, her organs once more catching venomous flame. Yang leapt from the edge to go to Blake's aid, only for her teacher to grab her by the waist. She was hurled to the gravel, her eyes looking skyward.

He was upon her in a split second.

Yang wound up her fist for a punch and threw it. The man caught it with ease with his right hand, but the blow found more than a measure of purchase, skidding him back a bit on the gravel.

Her fingers lit up in pain as his hand gripped her fist, but she continued pushing against him. Her Semblance began to flag and falter, her heart and mouth seizing up. Still, she was gaining on him, slowly pushing her legs and rising.

Yang sneered, prepared to fight through anything to get to Blake in time. She looked him in the eyes, her baleful red gaze furious. She rose to a stand and took a step forward, her teacher's boots sliding in the gravel as his eyes widened slightly. Even through all her rage and fury her heart began to arrest, but her fist did not slacken.

She began dying there on that rooftop, still on her feet. Still pushing. Still fighting.

Her lungs pulled in a small breathe and her heart stopped. Yang's vision blurred slowly, her strength finally fading away along with her Semblance. Her eyes turned back to purple and her hair to blonde.

He looked her in the eyes as they closed.

Yang collapsed, her Master still holding her hand. He guided her down to her back, the woman's head thumping upon the gravel rooftop gently. Her fist was still clenched tight.

She had given her life to try to save Blake's.

Her teacher knelt above her and placed his left hand upon her chest through the hole in her bandages between her breasts and upon her heart. His Aura glowed about him slightly, the faintest hint of blue and the kiss of static electricity on Yang's skin as she exhaled and passed from life.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

A faint shock reached her heart and it beat anew.

Yang's eyes opened with a gasp, her lungs pulling in air as her heart began pumping again. She shuddered where she laid and snapped her purple eyes and battered face to meet his green gaze.

She pulled her fist from his right hand, wound up and punched him in the mouth. His head wiped over and blood flew from his lips into the night. When his head came back around and his gaze met her own once more, he was not angry or glaring at her with a cold stare.

Her teacher was smiling with blood at the edge of his mouth. There was not one hint of malice upon his face. His jade eyes were lit up and slightly wide.

He was happy. That happiest she had ever seen him. Yang was very confused.

"Yang Xiao Long, you do indeed possess that last, most crucial piece of a truest warrior. You have mastered the most important lesson and, as such, achieved the final goal I had for you. Your training is complete."

The intensity in his jade eyes was something Yang had only ever seen in the eyes of her father. She quickly recognized the emotion. Intense, bare-faced pride.

Yang pulled in a deep breathe. "What are you even talking about, you bastard?!""

"You refused to accept defeat when it was unavoidable. You refused to yield. You spat in the face of fate and choose to change it by your hand even if it be at the cost of your very life." Mist filled his green eyes. "There was only one way you could do so. It is done, Yang. Nothing of this world or beyond can break your will now."

His words did not fully dawn upon her. She had only one thought. One priority.

"I have to get down there."

"There is no need."

Yang needed to act. She pulled herself up and dragged herself to the edge of the building, Adam still addressing the White Fang.

Blake was still alive, two fighters holding her arms.

"I have to help her." Yang began to stand.

Her teacher lifted the object from the top of the nearby metal climate control box and walked up alongside Yang. In his left hand was a longsword with a simple cruciform guard sheathed in a black leather scabbard. The weapon was a meter and a fifth long overall, the grip wrapped in black leather and wire with a functional pommel.

His right hand rested upon her shoulder. "Please, do not."

"Get your hand off me and shut up, I'm-"

"Yang, I have given you the smallest fraction of my Aura to keep the venom of Seven Eyes at bay so that you shall live. Though I shall never make another demand of you again I ask you remain here and stay hidden. I would rather you not throw your life away tonight."

She paused for a moment, looking at him. Yang could feel the spark of Aura within. However, it was different. It felt like static or the faint kiss of a shock. She could not summon it for her Semblance. It was indeed not her own, yet her heart pumped and her lungs drew in air.

"But, Blake is going to-"

"I did not and do not desire her death. I desired your final accomplishment. The perfection of your will. This was my method and for the harshness and impression of my hatred, I apologize."

"Oh, fuck you! I don't believe you anymore!"

"Yang, I give you my word, on my honor, I will bring Blake to you alive. Carve it upon the stone."

Yang sneered, her face twisting with fury and hate. "Your 'word' has been for shit, you bastard! You are going to get Blake killed! I don't even know what this fucking stunt was for! What do you mean the perfection of my will?!"

"You no longer pause for breath between your words. I know you no longer feel the burn of venom in your blood. You are angry because you wish to be. You could stop being angry this instant. Try if you wish."

Yang blinked. Her breathing was indeed normal in spite of how worried she was, but she sensed her lungs ached. Her blood did not burn, but she knew the venom was still within, attacking her. Her wounds and broken bones still hurt, but the pain from them was dull.

Fear and amazement filled her.

She was aware of her pain, but her wounds did not bite. Yang's eyes grew large and wide, her body shaking as she stared at her teacher with big pupils and small purple irises around them. Even the fear and amazement were pushed aside with ease, the shaking halting. Her boiling rage halted when she wished it to.

Everything within her being was as if a lucid dream. Yang had complete control of her pain, emotions and she was instinctively aware this control went further still, but that she simply lacked Aura to exert it. Her willpower had indeed taken complete dominion of her being.

It terrified her, but even that emotion was halted for it was not useful in the moment to her will.

"Master," Yang began, her tone measured and calm, "I am still going to beat the shit out of you for this no matter how it goes, but what is happening to me?" 

"It has all ready happened and is done. I shall explain later. A life is in the balance."

Yang had one more question.

"Who the hell are you?"

He smiled warmly down at her. "Someone who cares about you, Yang."

Her mouth hung open. She had no idea how to respond even with such clarity of thought.

His gaze snapped down at the scene unfolding then back to Yang. Adam's speech was concluded. "Time is short, but there is one more lie I must undo with truth."

She blinked at him, having no clue. Realization came to her as his lips parted.

"Your father is alive and well."

Yang's mouth closed, a bit of happiness welling up within and running into her will like all the rest. With a thought or perhaps a flourish of instinct, Yang could not tell which, the emotion came past at her command and faint hope filled her heart. A tear rolled down her right cheek.

Yang smiled at the man before her, suddenly not so angry, though still not fully trusting him. He would have to earn that back.

"Good luck, you son of a bitch."

He smiled at her with kind green eyes, ruffling Yang's blonde mane. His head turned and his expression quickly hardened to the steel of a warrior ready to fight and die as he gazed down upon the scene.

"I have set this into motion, but compelled by your unwillingness to yield I shall now halt it at any cost. The price of blood, steel and life, if demanded, is mine alone to pay. I do so gladly."

He stared down upon the White Fang as Adam approached Blake like a green-eyed bird of prey ready to swoop. Yang watched a single faint-blue spark of electricity course through his overgrown, white streaked light brown hair.

"In the name of Justice."

A bolt of lightning struck through the clear sky to where he stood over Yang, dazzling her eyes.


	14. Fallen Comrades

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated in loving memory to my Mother, who passed away one year ago today. May she rest in eternal tranquility.

Yang worked her way through a set of pushups. She passed the two hundred mark. Her fingers were wrapped, allowing her to keep at it with plenty of support for her broken digits. She had been keeping count dutifully. The pack on her back was heavy, but she was keeping the rhythm going.

Only the faintest bit of sweat moistened her skin, her body still very low on water. Thankfully, it still had some to spare.

Outside the hovel the wind howled. They started training at dawn, but around noon a sandstorm appeared on the horizon. They hustled back to the hovel double time, getting in just as soon as the wind started picking up the sand around the dome. Left with no alternative, her teacher ordered Yang to perform a long, taxing workout with three hundred pushups with the pack still on her back as the final task.

The smell of something good reached her nose. She kept her head down, still doing her assigned task, but curiosity crept into the back of her mind. A quick glance to the fireplace confirmed her teacher was indeed cooking something in a pot.

Yang continued her push ups, reaching 250.

"Fifty to go," he pointed out, his eyes still on the pot in front of him. He tossed in some vegetables and roots, using his hand to waft some of the smell from the pot to his nose. "This is coming along well."

Yang's mouth began to water, the smell of hot food almost foreign to her now. She managed to maintain her focus, not wanting to be saddled with another set of push ups. He had given her a hundred extra a few days earlier for miscounting and dropping one pushup in the set.

She worked towards her goal, and after a few more minutes, reached it. Yang added ten more on for good measure before holding herself up with her arm.

"Three hundred plus ten."

He nodded. "I got the same count. You may sit. Take off that pack."

Yang bent her knees down, her muscles burning and her fingers pained. She sat up straight and pulled off the military pack, carrying the dead weight from her shoulders and setting it on the ground. She got to her feet, picked up the pack and moved it back to its place near the door.

Weight had been steadily added to it in the past two weeks since that day he saw fit to reward her with extra water. It had 35 kilograms of rocks in it now, the pack looking a little worn from all the use. Yang walked back to her stone slab and sat down on it, glad to be done so early.

She hoped to be done, at least. Yang kept her mouth shut, wondering if he would assign more pull ups, chin ups or sit ups. After a full two minutes he did not say a word. He focused on the cooking before him.

Yang decided to ask. "So, uh, what are you having for dinner Master?"

He glanced at her, turning on his stool to face Yang. He seemed like he was lost in thought for a moment.

"It does not have a proper name. I just call it Desert Stew. Chopped small potatoes, some roots, a couple of diced, dried carrots and some jerky I had put away. Mix in some spices and salt and you get a thin, by good meal."

"It smells great." Yang tried not to sound too desperate, her mouth watering just slightly.

Her teacher smirked. "Worry not Yang, you and I are splitting it."

Yang's purple eyes lit up and sparkled. The woman leaned in a little closer, smelling at the air faintly, but not wanting to come off too brazen. She failed, but only barely.

There was no reprisal.

"A hot meal. I haven't had one since home."

"It is a luxury out here, but one I decided to have. While my aim is to break you down and build you into something greater, a little hot meal will not hurt. If anything, it will do wonders for your bones." He took a deep breathe. "As it stands, today is a special occasion and I shall observe it since you cannot go out into the sandstorms yet. In another two weeks, I think you will be there."

The idea of marching in a sandstorm was chilling to Yang, but this time she kept her emotions under better control.

"Special occasion?"

"On this day, a long time ago, I lost my comrades in arms in battle."

Yang's cracked lips parted, her split lip having healed. "That's right, you would have been a Hunter. You lost all three of them?"

"Well, I guess you could call me a Hunter and them my team, sure." He nodded. "I was thinking about them this morning. As I have told you, there are many things you cannot help or change, but you still think about them. Those things can help make you stronger and for us painful things, very painful things, can feed our combat ability."

"You tell me to put things out of my mind and here you are, thinking about something like that." Yang smirked, but quickly remembered herself. "Um... I apologize, Master."

He shook his head. "There is no need to. You are quite right." The man peeked into the pot and seemed to take stock. "A few more minutes."

He worked on for a while and then laughed a little.

Yang tilted her head. He seemed to read her curious expression.

"I just recalled something very foolish I and another of my team did. We sank a ship." He opened his mouth to talk, but quickly covered it, apparently trying not to laugh too hard.

She smirked at him, hoping this would be good. It was odd to see him laughing so much. Yang was not used to seeing this man's guard down.

"Sea Grimm had managed to tear a hole in the hull of a ship and were coming up from the lower decks. The vessel was sinking slowly and thus we had the opportunity to save it. My comrade and I were firing down the ladder-ways at them with my revolver and her rifle. We killed the Grimm, but my damn revolver and her rifle punched too many holes into the keel. The ship sank."

He laughed, Yang still smiling.

"It went down right in the middle of the harbor and on a major occasion no less. Right in front of government officials in attendance of the launching of another vessel. Our team leader was beside herself when we had to explain how it happened."

He started laughing harder, Yang laughing along as well, finding the notion amusing.

"We were sent to save the ship and we sank it right before the eyes of the kingdom's officials. I still remember the look in my friend's eyes when she realized the vessel was doomed. It was my idea to use our firearms. She was very cross, I will leave it at that."

"We once got into a massive food fight with another team. We completely destroyed the place."

He smiled, nodding as his laughter came under control. "How does one destroy anything aside decorum by flinging food around?"

"No, like finding food that matched our weapons and having a brawl. I got knocked into the air by a watermelon on a post. Straight through the roof. Passed a flock of geese on the way up."

"What?" He smirked, his jade eyes glinting. "That is ridiculous. What kind of food fight is that?"

"Yeah, Weiss was using a sword fish in the literal sense. I had turkeys on my hands like gloves. We were doing well until Pyrrha unleashed a volley of soda cans using her Semblance. That's what Blake told me, I was still in the sky when it ended. Ruby had to win the fight for us with her Semblance." She started laughing. "Ruby scattered the tables and chairs everywhere and slammed all of team JNPR into the wall along with the soda cans. The wall was a giant, technicolor mess."

Yang sighed, her smile fading as her laughter trailed off. Her memories were turning bittersweet. "Pyrrha's gone now. Poor Jaune."

Her teacher took a breathe and nodded, his expression measured, but warm. "Fallen comrades even at your age, hmm?"

"I didn't know her too well, but yeah. I know Ruby took it hard."

"How about your team, Yang? What are they like?"

A wistful look crossed Yang's face, their faces in her mind's eye. Her eyes were sparkling amethysts as happiness returned.

"My little sister was the leader. We all had our differences, but we worked together well. Had some missions, had a lot of fun. Weiss was always fun to mess with. Like most rich girls, you could get under her skin."

The man nodded, rubbing his beard. "Had someone like that on my team. She was a woman of great wealth and high society tastes from a family that never produced a Hunter or Huntress before her. She would eat anything we cooked in the field and enjoyed a simple beer at the taverns on the road, but once we returned to civilization, she only consumed the finest foods and beverages. Expensive wines and rare delicacies. I always gave her hell for it."

"Easiest way to annoy Weiss was for me to show a lot of cleavage around her," Yang started with a laugh. "She never said anything, but I got a few glares. Poor girl had and probably always will have a pair of bee stings for tits."

"She is very self conscious about her womanly shape or lack thereof, hmm? I would wager it did not help having you around."

"Oh hell no," Yang continued with a wide smile, pushing up her diminished breasts with her forearm. "She never said a word, but it was always there in her eyes."

"Well, my wealthy teammate was very well endowed. Very beautiful and womanly. Many men and more than one woman spent vast sums attempting to court her. Some had more success than others. Her and I, well, we spent a few evenings together. She responded well to gold, but far more so to rugged looks and charm."

He grinned, turning his head slightly, putting on as handsome a front as he could considering the sand still on his skin and within his hair. Yang shook her head and tried not to laugh, surprised how calm about the subject she was.

She nodded with a smile. Her Master suddenly seemed very human.

"We used to argue and bicker often. It was for the best that relationship came and went. We were a couple of hot heads. Any children would have been miserable."

"Weiss can be a hot head even though she comes off so cold. She had trust issues with Blake for a long time. Ruby and her got on fine after a while. We did okay around each other. Weiss really can be warm once you get to know her, in her own cool sort of way."

"And thus return the puns."

Yang smiled. "More like plays on words."

"And Ruby?"

"Family, you have to love being with family." Yang sighed, her expression returning to melancholy. "I didn't value them as much as I do in hindsight. I miss her. I miss them all." The blonde sat silent for a moment, curling a bit of her hair around a finger, sighing. "When Ruby came to... after I lost my arm... she told me she loved me. I didn't say anything."

He shook his head faintly, but his expression did not turn cold or harsh.

"I know, Master."

"My team leader was my best friend for our entire lives. I was technically her superior, but she had a cooler head than I could manage back in those days. She was a prodigy Huntress. A genius, really. Could recite vital statistics and habits of any form of Grimm from memory. Excellent fighter. Good Aura and control of it. Impressive Semblance."

"You know, as a Huntress, Ruby is really great. She got into Beacon two years early and became our team leader." Yang smiled anew. "My little sis. All she ever wanted to be was a Huntress. I went in for adventure and a life of danger, but she did for the love of it. Your friend?"

"She was good at it and it was a way for her to improve her station in life. She pulled us through a many difficult situations with her planning and fast thinking. It was only when things grew dire and we came up against men bent on destruction, and we had soldiers under our command, that she stepped aside from leadership. I have a more, well, let us call it a military background."

He seemed to be looking into the distance, lost in some memory, before snapping his eyes back on Yang's, green to purple.

"What about Blake? She seems to have caught your eye."

Yang sighed.

"Blake... I don't... sometimes, I don't know." She looked away from her teacher. "Dark hair, pale skin. Fantastic body. Amber eyes. Smart and witty woman with a past that makes you just want to hug her and hold her forever. She's a Faunus and was once a member of the White Fang, but left when she saw how indiscriminate they became. I'm pretty sure she is an orphan. Probably lost her parents in a crackdown on protesters. I don't know... I always got that impression once she came out about being a Faunus. I just want to keep her safe."

"Hmm, odd. The woman I was closest to was a Faunus. She had a pair of wedged dog ears on her head that she kept covered with a circular, pointed reed hat. She came from a proud family of warriors. She was also on my team."

He took a deep breathe, closing his eyes and rubbing them. His hand came down and he looked to Yang once more.

"It took me years to realize how I felt about her in spite of, frankly, not having kind feelings towards the Faunus. By the time I got past it and told her, well, I will say they were a good three years. Sadly, she could not bear children. She had taken a wound early in her career that erased that possibility."

Yang nodded, feeling the slightest bit of sympathy for the man. "That's terrible."

"No. What is terrible and what I deeply regret, to this very moment, is chiding her for her loss shortly after it happened in my prejudice. I said something hateful and foolish about how at least she would not make any more 'animals'. Those words cut her deeply."

She cringed at his words, almost shirking where she sat. It was Yang's turn to look at him with a measure of disappointment.

"Your reaction and judging gaze are more than called for." He sighed, taking a deep breathe and looking at the stew. His eyes moved back to Yang. "Once I grew fond of her, I was able to see past my short-sighted beliefs and better accept the Faunus as my brother sentient. They still produce evil men and women just as Humanity does, but judge by actions and beliefs, not something as silly as a pair of dog ears or the like."

"That's my policy. That's what Dad and Summer taught both me and Ruby."

"As parents should. In spite of everything I had said before, she was very forgiving and accepting of my change of heart. She eventually came to love me in kind."

Her teacher sighed, looking down at the pot of cooking food once more, very obviously lost in the past.

"She was lovely. Diligent and honorable. Kind and very graceful." He smirked. "A spirited lover. Loyal and brave to the very end."

"She sounds like she was great."

He nodded, looking at Yang. "When did you come to realize your affections for Blake?"

"With Blake I'm sure I figured it out quicker than you did, not having to overcome the whole racism thing." Her teacher nodded, Yang shrugging. Both parties found the assessment fair. "When I saw her running herself ragged I only suspected my feelings and part of me did not want to stop dancing with her at the ball, but when Adam hurt her... I... I just had to stop him. I had to protect her and in ways I never felt I needed to even with Ruby. I completely lost my temper and my Semblance activated. Now, I know it was because of how much seeing her hurt pained me."

Yang looked her teacher in the eyes, her purple gaze hardening. He turned his head slightly, seeing something in her expression that made his turn unreadable.

"I'm going to kill that man for what he did to her. To hell with the arm. My father deserves justice, but... I'll... oh, I'm going to kill that son of a bitch for what he's done. He's hurt too many people. People I care about and perfect strangers. I don't know if I will be able to beat him, but if I ever see him again, I'm going after him."

"Well, ability to do so aside, it seems like you have a right. I hope you do end his life, Yang. It would sound just. Remember, though, if you should ever face him in battle, to remain calm. To keep your composure. You emotions cannot be allowed to run loose over your will. That is a potent weapon he will use against you. Deny it and the field will be closer to level than before. Use your pain, but do not give in to blind rage."

Yang nodded, finding the advice sound. "Thank you, Master."

He nodded back. "So then, Blake is a woman and so are you." He smirked. "That was not so uncommon in my time, but it was kept very quiet. Such relationships were seen as unseemly. Then again, so was one between Faunus and Human, so I long ago decided I am not one to judge what is love. These days, those sorts of relationships are looked upon as acceptable, if not entirely normal. Your mother is aware of your 'interest' in the woman Yang, but is any other?"

"In the closet, though I think my dad suspects... suspected." She sighed, pushing a flash of Taiyang bleeding out from her mind's eye. "You know what I mean. My Uncle Qrow might suspect too, but I can't be sure."

He nodded. "I am sure your family will accept Blake. She sounds lovely."

"Yeah, if she would just stop running away from her problems."

"One of those, hmm? Not like us."

Yang shook her head. "No." She glanced at her stump and sighed. "Well, I did for a while, but not anymore."

"The important thing, Yang, is that you got back up. You were laid low, even defeated, but you did rise." He gestured to her shirt and chest. "That symbol you wear, Yang. I am curious. I have my preconceptions, but what does your symbol mean to you? You chose it after all."

She grabbed the bottom trim of her orange shirt and pulled it outward and down, stretching it to fully define the flaming heart in black upon her chest. She looked at her symbol, taking it in. Always finding it pleasing to her eye.

"My burning heart. Well, I have a temper and sometimes my emotions are strong." Yang looked up at him. "I drew it once when I was little. Summer told me it had a meaning more than being a pretty picture. She told me that, in ancient times, people who were brave and bold were said to have a fire inside."

"So which is it?"

Yang smirked, letting go of her shirt. "Both I guess. Why, what did you think?"

"Heartburn."

Her purple eyes narrowed. Her lips slowly curled into a smile. "Nice."

"Many thanks and I jest, of course. I know what your step-mother spoke of. It is indeed an old and proud symbol from days long before the Great War. It was upon an ancient medal for extreme bravery in battle given by the Kingdom of Vacuo. The symbol is called a Heart of Defiance."

"What does it mean?"

"A Heart of Defiance denotes one who, even in the face of the impossible, never yielded. It is the mark of the boldest of warriors. The bravest of the brave. It was usually bestowed upon heroes to denote their incredibly courage in the face of danger and death. Many such heroes received it before being laid to rest, having given their lives in the process of earning such an honor. Those who lived through such battles and ordeals to bear the Heart of Defiance in life were looked upon as some of the greatest warriors of Remnant. Living legends."

Yang's eyes widened. Summer never told her that. She looked at her shirt and then back to her teacher. "Wow."

"In fact, it is said every dragon, good or evil and not of the Grimm for they are heartless and soulless facsimiles, possessed a literal Heart of Defiance. A dragon is both powerful and fearless. They could challenge the gods. Legends say many did."

"Dragons and the gods?" Yang smirked, finding such notions quaint. She had never heard of anyone talk of these things outside of an academic or mythological discussion. "You're talking about the old faith."

He nodded. "I am old fashioned. So is your symbol, so perhaps do not be so quick to look down upon old thoughts and ways."

"Well, that's a lot of things I didn't know about my heartburn label." Yang smiled wide. "I always did like my symbol, but now I like it more."

"Yes. It is a fine aspiration. I hope sincerely you earn the honor of wearing it." He smirked, his green eyes narrowed. "For one to bear such a symbol and not live up to it is a grave insult to those who have. One day you will be called upon to earn that flaming heart, Yang. I hope you shall."

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. What about you, Master?"

Yang pointed at his jacket hanging on the wall, the back facing her. Upon it was his single jagged white lightning bolt.

"What does your symbol mean? Does it have a name?"

He nodded. "Yes. I choose it when I was thirteen years old after I watched a warrior go forth and to fight and die a bold death against an army of bandits. She left the safety of the walls to give hope to hopeless people by guarding a bridge and not allowing it to be taken. The warrior fell in battle, but not before dozens of innocent people were able to cross the bridge to flee to within the safety of the walls. By the courage and sacrifice of one, forty or more lived."

Yang blinked. "Wow. Who was she?"

"She was my mother."

She maintained eye contact with him, but part of her wanted to look away . Yang could not imagine what it must have done to him mentally and emotionally to have seen that. She wondered if Ruby would be more like her teacher if she saw Summer Rose give her life in such a way.

"My mother was looked down upon for having a son with no father. However, she was given many medals for her courage and sacrifice that day. I was given her things and those medals. However, my symbol comes from what one she saved said of her."

"Which was?"

"I was told she was as Lightning in the Black. Her actions were unforeseen like lightning on a clear night. If you have seen such a thing, you know that even at midnight, the sky be blue. None saved thought help would arrive and, as such, they had abandoned hope. Great courage, like lightning, can take those who witness it from blackest despair to brightest blue hope. Indeed, my mother did just that. The town garrison stormed over the bridge when she fell and, though outnumbered three to one, they drove the bandits away, breaking their will and putting their leader in the mud where she belonged."

"You saw all that..."

"I went out with them, sword in hand. I stayed back at my mother's behest for I was all she cared for, but once she fell, I went over that bridge to her. I fought my first battle and killed men at thirteen. I personally recovered my mother and saw to her burial."

She blinked, wondering what kind of childhood her teacher must have had.

He gestured to his jacket. "In ancient times lightning also signified justice for it was said the gods only stuck down the unrighteous and unjust with lightning. Thus, I chose a white lightning bolt upon blue. Lightning in the Black."

Yang nodded. "That's a lot of meaning for a simple lightning bolt."

"That is the purpose of symbols is it not? You bear on your chest a Heart of Defiance for the world to see. It tells them who you are and what you are capable of. I carry upon my back Lightning in the Black as a reminder of my past and my duty. Any who look upon it shall know what I stand for."

Yang pointed at his jacket. "That's one hell of a symbol."

He gestured to Yang's chest, nodding. "Your own is supremely impressive as well."

His mood lightened immediately as he sniffed at the air. He glanced at the pot and smirked, standing and picking up two bowls and two spoons. "Dinner is ready."

"I'd rub my hands together if I still had two."

Her teacher laughed, picking up the pot and pouring some in one bowl, heedless of the heat. He poured the rest in the other bowl and handed one to Yang, waiting for her to set it down beside herself before offering the spoon and small foiled pack of crackers Yang recognized as some kind of trail ration.

He went to the sink and lifted out two glasses, filling both to full before coming back and offering one to Yang. He took his seat, looking at the bowl on the low table beside him, opening his pack of crackers.

"This meal is also a reward for you, Yang."

She dipped her spoon into the stew, the smell wonderful. "Really?"

"Yes. For the past three days, I have not heard one complaint about your ribs or fingers. You have done everything I have set out before you without too much difficulty in that time. I am going to begin increasing the intensity of your training starting tomorrow. There will be changes in your water and food."

Yang nodded, realizing she had indeed been silent about her pain. She did wonder how much more intense things could get. She was hoping for more food and water, but suspected he meant less.

"This meal was a favorite of myself and my fallen comrades. It is in honor of my old friends, long gone, and for you."

She picked up her glass of water and looked her teacher in the eyes. "Master, what were the names of your friends?"

"Do not worry about that. It does not matter anymore."

"Well," Yang lifted her glass and held it forth, "to your friends. I hope they found peace."

He raised his glass immediately, nodding. "To Ruby, Weiss and Blake. I hope you are reunited with them soon. And to you, Yang Xiao Long. So far, you have proven a diligent student. Prost!"

"Cheers!"

They touched glasses, each having a quick, measured sip.

"Before I eat, I do have one question." Yang looked to him again, setting her glass aside.

He lifted his bowl in his hand, taking up his spoon. "Ask, but I promise no answers."

Yang nodded. "Master, what is your name?"

"Master will suffice. However, one day, I will tell you. Keep working hard and it may be sooner rather than later. By then, however, you will likely not care." He dipped his spoon into the stew and lifted out a piece of carrot and spoonful of broth. "Now eat, for you shall not be getting another hot meal anytime soon."

She accepted his answer. "Thank you again, Master."

Yang lifted a spoonful of the broth to her lips. It was rich with flavor, if watery. The vegetables were not quite right, but close enough for her. The jerky had softened into a nice treat, few and far between it was. The eight crackers from the foil pack, stale and tasting only faintly of salt, still went well with the stew.

Still, to her mind and belly it was the best bowl of stew Yang ever had.

The company was not bad either.


	15. Lightning in the Black

Yang's eyes cleared of the dazzling whiteness almost immediately, willfully focusing her vision through her newfound power. Her teacher was gone, a small scorch mark where the bolt struck down next to her. She looked back out over edge of the building as she knelt, watching some of the White Fang look around above themselves.

The lightning bolt came down from a clear sky.

Adam glanced upward and looked back down upon Blake, paying little heed to the strike. He walked up alongside her and raised Wilt's red blade over head. The woman's hands were still bound behind her back as she knelt before him, her neck exposed.

Yang could see it on her partner's face from where she watched. Blake had accepted her death.

A lightning bolt struck between the empty dust silos just outside the ring of White Fang, illuminating the clear black night to blue day for an instant, vanquishing the very stars from the sky. The assembled fighters looked around in apparent confusion and momentarily inhibited vision, Adam raising his left arm before the eye slits of his mask.

All quickly looked to who was not there a moment before.

Standing on a small bit of scorched concrete where the bolt fell was Yang's Master, his head slightly down and to the right, his eyes hidden in the twilight beneath his overgrown hair and his facial scar on display for all to see. The man had their complete attention, Adam included.

Blake fell upon her stomach, looking to the Human who had so suddenly appeared.

Yang was counting on him to deliver on his word. She hoped, deep down, this was not another cruel ploy. She prepared herself to jump down and do what it took just in case he had played her for a fool again.

Adam rested his blade on his shoulder, pointing at the man. A bit of wind blew through the complex, making the Leader of the White Fang's long black coat and red hair as well as her teacher's white streaked light brown hair and blue jacket bearing a white lightning bolt upon the back flutter slightly.

"Interloper! This is White Fang business!" Adam gestured away into the night with his free hand. "Be gone or you will quickly earn my ire!"

Yang's Master raised his head and looked Adam in the eye slits of his mask, keeping his sheathed blade at his side in his left hand.

"Adam Taurus and the White Fang! I do not wish for conflict! I will give you the opportunity to release Blake Belladonna to me and leave the field with your weapons in hand and your banners and heads held high!"

Yang sighed. She would have rather he just attacked them.

Adam laughed softly and looked back at his assembled fighters. The Leader of the White Fang's gaze moved back to Yang's teacher.

"Who do you think you are, Human?!"

Her teacher held apart his arms. "The Knight-Commander of Vacuo!"

Adam's head tilted. "What are you talking about?! A knight?! There have been no knights since before the Great War, Human!" Some of the White Fang around him laughed loud enough Yang could hear them. "You made an impressive entrance, but you are nothing more than a fool seeking death!"

"That I am! By the authority vested to me in title by King Oriel Sandstone, and by the oath I have swore to uphold law and order in the land, I will ask once again! Release Blake Belladonna to me and leave the Kingdom at once!"

The laughter of the White Fang grew louder. Yang could even see a small smile form on Adam's face. She could see the faint glimmer of hope leave Blake's eyes. Yang blocked out her pain with a mere push of will and began to rise, ready to act.

"What is your name, so called Knight-Commander of Vacuo?!" Adam pointed at her teacher, his faint smile fading to a scowl. "So I know the name of the madman we rid the world of this night!"

"My name is Sir Adler von Sturm! You know my title! You have heard my lawful demands for I am still Knight-Commander of this Kingdom!" He lowered his left arm to his side and pointed back at Adam with his right. "What say you, Adam Taurus and the White Fang?! Will you comply or shall there be blood?!"

The White Fang looked at each other, not sure what to make of it as well, but they slowly backed away into a concave as thunder rumbled in the distance. Yang realized the White Fang had not done so out of any kind of intimidation, but rather to form a proper firing line.

Adam snapped, the fighters armed as such raising their rifles and submachine guns.

"Kill him," Adam ordered calmly, apparently unimpressed.

The White Fang opened fire, the wall of white and black clad fighter's weapons a rippling line of firearm reports flashing in the night. Yang's teacher stood perfectly still as the Dust bullets pattered off his Aura and body like raindrops off a tin roof, not even so much as damaging his clothing.

Adam took a step forward towards Blake, his scowl growing more intense as the ceaseless barrage of rounds found no purchase against Adler.

Slowly, the weapons began to run out of ammo. The display of overwhelming firepower lasted for less than twenty seconds. Some of the White Fang reloaded, but many stared at Adler with slightly agape mouths.

Yang slid back down to a kneel. She was impressed. Blake's wide yellow eyes glinted in the night, telling her she too was surprised.

"I see," Adler stated calmly. "Well then, allow me to reply."

He pulled Vanquisher with his right hand in a flash of blue denim and black blued steel, cocked the hammer and fired. The report boomed as a hole appeared in the chest of one of the White Fang standing in the firing line reloading his weapon, red mist and bone fragments flying out his back onto the concrete in a crimson spray.

His aim walked over to another as the first slumped down dead. The hammer was pulled back again and another thunderous report filled the facility. A White Fang fighter lost part of his head in a red mist and fragments of his mask, his body slumping down where he stood.

Adler cocked Vanquisher's hammer again and pointed it at Adam. "I will repeat myself once more. Release-"

"Attack!" Adam ordered, stepping on Blake's back and raising his sword to finish her.

Another booming report of Vanquisher sounded, metal on metal echoing as Adam's sword was wrenched from his hand and sent flying. The leader of the White Fang stared at his now empty hand in very obvious surprise.

Blake glanced up at him and realized he was now unarmed. She rolled under Adam, forcing him off in a stumble and kicked him in the chest with both legs, sending him flying.

Adam crashed down in front of his fighters, rolled to a kneel and gestured at Adler.

"Kill him! Kill them both!"

The White Fang compiled, most opening fire again. Four fighters, two from each end of the line, ran forward with melee weapons just outside the line of fire. The first shots to fall upon Blake met one of her shadow clones and killed the fading copy as the woman rolled to a stand and took off running just ahead, weaving through the fire with bound hands.

Adler replaced his revolver and pulled his blade as the enemy approached, tossing the scabbard aside and striding forward as Blake dashed towards him.

Five meters before Blake reached Adler a shotgun blast sounded and shattered concrete and fiery Dust flew up around her legs and sent her tumbling to the ground. Adam strode forward from behind the firing line with Wilt back in hand and a smoking Blush leveled before him.

The gunfire from the White Fang cut off as four fighters armed for melee closed on Blake.

"Kill the Traitor!" one of the fighters shouted.

"In the name of Justice!" Adler shouted back as he stepped over Blake, took an archaic stance and to met the charge.

The first fighter to reach him swung, only to meet the blade of Adler's sword on his shoulder blade to a sickening crack. The knight wrenched the sword free, kicked aside his now profusely bleeding assailant and blocked the strike of an axe from the second fighter. A quick roll of the sword got the blade's tip inside his foe's guard and Adler cut the man's throat handily with a simply flourish of steel.

Two fighters laid dying at his feet and next to a wide-eyed Blake, blood slowly pooling on the concrete.

Adler caught the next sword strike from his third foe between the guard and blade of his longsword. He pulled his foe in using the leverage of the longer weapon, worked his sword free and took the metal of the guard across the woman's face, sending blood flying from her mouth and knocking her back in a stagger.

Without a moment's hesitation the knight stepped into her guard and ran the woman through the belly with the first third of his blade. He pulled the weapon free as the fourth fighter tried to bring his mace down on Blake behind him, spun about and steel sounded as the hammer was knocked free and flying into the night.

Adler looked the fighter in the eyes of his mask and waited, longsword at the ready. The White Fang member before him reached for a handgun on his belt and the knight swung again, now sending his head rolling from his shoulders. The headless body slumped down onto its knees next to Blake, the woman getting to her knees behind Adler, her blood-splattered porcelain face twisted with shock and horror.

The melee lasted for less than ten seconds. Three laid dying and one dead around Adler and Blake, two moaning and crying out in agony. The knight pulled his sword down and retook his archaic stance, facing off against the remaining thirty and more White Fang.

Yang finally got a good look at the weapon. Adler's longsword was 120 centimeters long overall with a two-handed grip and simple cruciform guard. The broad fuller blade gleamed like a light, some runes Yang could not read upon the length of the weapon within the fuller as he held it out alongside himself.

There was no accents or flourishes of style to the weapon. It was completely functional and utilitarian aside the runic writing. The weapon was of a very old design. Yang could tell it was even older the Jaune's Crocea Mors.

From what she knew of weapon designs, both modern and historic, his longsword easily predated the Great War by centuries.

"This woman is now under my protection!"

Adler rolled his sword's blade around in a small circle in his grasp, light playing upon the blade, making it look almost like polished silver stained with scarlet. He whirled the weapon once, blood splaying upon the concrete before him, the weapon now clean.

"By the steel of Dreadnought, by the fire of Vanquisher and by the strength of my will I shall lay low any who attempt to take this woman's life! Now then, Adam Taurus! Six of your warriors lay dead and dying! Two might be saved! Will you not see reason and quit the field?!"

This time, the White Fang did not smile or laugh. This time, Yang could see the faint signs of fear amongst them as their dying comrades cried out in the night. Some in the firing line stepped back one or even two paces.

Blake looked up at Adler, obviously distressed by the dying around her. He placed his left hand on her shoulder and looked down into her wide amber eyes.

"Take heart. Their will falters against my own. You are safe now, Miss Belladonna."

Blake looked like she was no longer afraid. Yang could see a faint glimmer of hope in her yellow eyes even from where she watched. Her Master interposed his sword between him and the White Fang, shifting his gaze to Adam.

"Well then, what say you Blackguard?!" Adler's voice boomed, lightning crackling across the clear sky and thunder rumbling impossibly quick behind it.

Adam shouted angrily and fired Blush at Adler, hitting him directly in the chest, flaming Dust washing over him. Adler slid back a centimeter, but no more. His shirt was slightly tattered and his beard faintly wafted smoke, but the knight held his ground.

He had used his body to shield Blake.

Yang felt a lump stick in her throat as she collapsed, knowing in her heart of hearts and accepting in her imperious will she no longer needed to act. Her teacher was indeed going to protect Blake and at any cost. His intentions could not be more clear as he stood between her and the host.

That night in Vacuo one stood against many.

Yang was filled with hope at the sight before her. She stared at the symbol on the back of his jacket. Indeed, he lived up to that Lightning in the Black.

"I will not be denied!" Adam looked back at his fighters, his expression livid. "He is a Human who has killed your brothers and sisters and she a Traitor! Kill him and bring her to me! Firearms are ineffective! Draw melee weapons! Prepare to charge!"

Whatever trepidation amongst the White Fang passed as Adam's command rang out into the night. They shouldered their firearms and pulled their swords, axes, daggers and a few maces. One large fighter amongst them hefted a two-handed hammer.

Yang glowered at their courage, but within she had to respect it.

Adam slid Wilt within Blush, lifted his right hand from the weapon and bent it upward at the elbow. He gestured forward with one snapping motion, his index and middle fingers extended.

The order was given. The crowd of fighters roared and rushed forward as a black and white wave, deadly steel glinting amongst them. Adam held his ground and watched on, his warriors loosed.

Adler squeezed Blake's shoulder and walked forward, taking his stance again with both hands on the sword.

"Death to Humanity!" one White Fang shouted.

"Seize the Traitor!" another cried out.

Adler's hands flexed upon Dreadnought's grip. "Come then! Let the victor be Justice!"

Almost three dozen White Fang came to the end of their charge, shouting and yelling, their weapons ready. As the first reached Adler he lashed his left arm out, backhanding and knocking airborne his first assailant, sending him flying ten meters.

The second was cut in half in a crimson arc with a deft, one-handed swing of Dreadnought before the first hit the ground.

Another reached him and blocked his attack, only to be bowled over by the force of the blow. He was quickly finished with a stab to the chest as Adler placed both hands back on his sword.

The next met the pommel of Dreadnought face first, earning a broken nose. Her head whipped back and she hit the ground, knocked out cold.

The fifth to reach him caught Adler at a disadvantage, only for the knight to grab onto his blade with his left hand and, using the sword almost like a stave, blocked the attack. He followed up by grabbing the sixth behind the shoulder with the cross guard, using the weapon like a gaff. He pulled his assailant past, sending the foe stumbling to the ground.

Adler's grip dropped back to higher on the blade and he whirled around and cracked the fifth's skull with a murder stroke, hitting her in the temple with an end of the cross guard. He flipped the blade away from his body and took the grip back up, deflecting an attack from the fallen sixth before running him through in the same motion before Blake's eyes.

Eight seconds. Six defeated or dead. Not one blow landed on him, though many tried.

The host fell upon him, the Knight-Commander whirling his blade around him in a style of combat not seen in ages, mixing horizontal swings with deft overhead strikes and rising sweeps of Dreadnought. His footwork carried him in a circular motion around Blake and through the attackers.

Anyone who got too close was knocked aside, lost a limb or was simply cut down. Their attacks were parried aside or outright dodged as Adler moved through them like a bladed whirlwind, leaving a trail of blood, limbs and the dying or dead. 

Yang recalled this style vaguely from the combat manuals that were a part of the studies of Professor Port's class. The style was ancient, but her teacher was apparently a grand master.

Within another fifteen seconds, six more lay dead or dying. They still could not fall upon Blake. The concrete around Adler and Blake was quickly growing crowded with bodies, limbs and pools and sprays of blood. The enemy closed in around him, attempting to deny him the advantage of the length of his sword.

It did them little good as he resumed half-swording with Dreadnought, holding the blade and guiding it into punishing stabs and cuts against two foes. A third was knocked across the face with the guard, a fourth earning a bludgeon to the face from the weapon's pommel.

A fifth fighter was stabbed with the top third of the blade, Adler wrenching the weapon out of the fighter in a red spray. His foe dropped at his feet, bleeding from a large, ugly wound in his chest.

In turn, the weapons falling upon him found little purchase. His jacket was torn in many places, but the skin beneath did not break. Yang realized Adler's Aura had to be powerful to ignore so many hits.

The one large White Fang warrior armed with his massive hammer swung at Adler, hitting him with a two-handed swing as he was distracted. Yang's Master was sent flying into a dust silo to a resounding impact against the metal.

Adler von Sturm quickly pulled himself from the dent in the metal and punched the first to approach him with a left cross, knocking her out. The Knight-Commander pointed at the large fighter.

"I challenge you to single combat!"

"I accept!" the large foe shouted in affirmation, the massive White Fang warrior bearing a hammer sporting an impressive pair of ram's horns and a solid black mask. His shoulders and chest were covered with blackened metal armor, his arms in tattoos of White Fang masks.

"For the White Fang! Death to Humanity!"

Sir Adler von Sturm raised his sword in both hands and set into his stance. "Thunder and Lightning! Honor and Glory!"

Steel clashed upon steel, sword against hammer. Her teacher's attacks missed or were blocked, Adler being struck in return and sent flying again, further from Blake. She looked around, got to her feet and began moving away from the battle.

The knight smashed into the ground, rolled and sprang back up. He charged back into the duel as the remaining White Fang willing to fight him formed a large circle around the duel. The Knight-Commander managed to cut one of the enemy fighter's arms and drew blood, but was struck in kind with the handle of the hammer.

When Adler got his footing back, his hair went white, lightning ripping through the night again. His eyes turned blue and glowed faintly, a few arcs of electricity coursing over his body. Adler was taking a beating, but kept fighting, seeming to only grow more deadly.

It made sense to Yang. After all, that was how her Semblance worked and he had the same one as she. Her own had an affinity for fire and his was quite obviously manifested as lightning.

Adam stalked after a still bound Blake, the woman slowly trying to escape as her protector was distracted. His red sword flashed out for the kill, only for another thunderous report to sound, a clang of metal on metal sending Wilt flying again.

Adler maintained his duel with a single hand on Dreadnought while whirling around Vanquisher and replacing it in his holster. "That is poor form, Blackguard!"

Yang watched on in silence, all her weariness and injury tugging at the edges of her willpower, but finding no purchase. She marveled at her teacher. This was what it was like to watch someone with her Semblance fight.

Each blow he took, even from the mighty hammer of his foe, found no purchase now, not even staggering or knocking him back. Adler's focus was impervious as well, his attention to his surroundings allowing him to spare Blake once more.

Adler and the White Fang champion attacked each other twice more, a hammer blow hitting the Knight-Commander square in the face, but not so much as phasing him aside a bloody nose. His counter attack took one of the large man's legs in a bloody spray, the follow up taking his head and sending it falling to the ground.

The massive champion toppled to the ground, his neck and thigh bleeding onto the concrete.

The rest of the White Fang began to back away slowly, another streak of lightning rending the sky as the closing clouds grew dark and threatening above.

"My foe, I salute your courage, skill and unwillingness to yield! Now rest in eternal tranquility!" Adler looked to the crowd around him, standing over his defeated foe. "Now who will face me next and die with honor?! Who among this host has steel in their soul?! Who is ready to meet death gladly?!"

Adam strode into the circle, dragging in Blake by her hair and kicking her in the back, forcing her to stand before him. Wilt was once more recovered and quickly put to Blake's throat.

"That's enough theatrics out of you! Throw down that weapon or I kill her now!"

Yang covered her mouth, watching her Master jam his sword into the concrete, leaving it standing at his side. He did not raise his hands, however. Adler stood, watching Adam.

"Why are you here?!" the leader of the White Fang shouted.

"These are the lands I have sworn to defend unto death!"

"What is your interest in this woman?!" He threatened Blake's neck again, stomping on her foot when she attempted to slip free. "Answers!"

"I pledged on my honor to bring her safely to another and so I shall, for a knight does not break his word! Release her to me and I will stay my hand while you and your forces withdraw!"

"You will toss aside that firearm or I will cut her throat!"

Lightning struck where the Knight-Commander stood, the man no longer there. In the same moment, lightning struck in front of Adam and Blake, Adler before them.

Adler von Sturm grabbed Wilt in his bare hand, Adam attempting to finish Blake, but only succeeding to push his foes knuckles into the woman's throat. The wickedly sharp blade drew blood from the knight's hand, but it did not cut past.

Adam's mouth opened in shock. The knight leaned forward into Adam's face, lightning filling the sky and thunder booming as his brilliant blue eyes locked with the eye slits of Adam's mask.

"I have lost my patience for the likes of you."

He wound his head back and headbutt Adam between his horns, staggering him. Adler wrenched the sword away from Blake, her hair being released as Adam stumbled. She moved out of the way and Adler punched Adam in the stomach once with his left hand, doubling him forward, the Leader of the White Fang gasping and spitting as his wind was taken.

"Now I will put you in the mud where you belong, Blackguard!"

Adam's gaze snapped up at Adler, what was visible of his face pure rage as he gasped for air. Yang's teacher released Wilt and punched Adam in the face with his right hand, leaving his blood on the man's mask. The Leader of the White Fang stumbled to the ground, apparently stunned by the blow.

The knight pulled Vanquisher with his wounded hand, cocked it and shot a closing a White Fang fighter coming to Adam's defense, his aim true with only a summary glance over his shoulder. The fighter was killed near-instantly, a spray of blood and bone fragment flying from his back as his legs slowed to a walk and he fell.

The Knight-Commander glanced at Blake, knelt over her, pulled a knife from his boot and cut her bindings. The woman looked at him blankly, almost as if she could not believe what was happening. The knight whispered something to her and pointed to her weapon, Blake quickly scrambling for her sword.

Yang's Master watched Blake move away and pick up her weapon as he replaced his knife. She looked back at him, nodded once and took off running, Gambol Shroud in hand. Blake went for the side paths, none moving to intercept.

They were all fully focused on Adler as he stood and starting walking, flipping out Vanquisher's cylinder and pulling brass free one at a time. The Knight-Commander dropped the casings one at a time into the blood and onto the bodies of his foes. He replaced each round one at a time and closed the cylinder, replacing the revolver in his shoulder holster.

Adam recovered as the Knight-Commander walked further away. The White Fang parted before Adler as he headed back for his sword, none of them seeming to wish incurring his wrath.

As he reached Dreadnought Yang's teacher pulled it from the ground. His blue eyes widened as the Leader of the White Fang ran at him. Adler turned in time to block the attack, locking eyes with Adam once again.

"This is not over, Human!"

"Blackguard, it would be best if you and your comrades in arms quit the field now!"

The Leader of the White Fang jammed Blush into Adler's stomach and fired, sending the knight flying back on a trail of flame and smoke. Yang leaned up and watched her teacher smash into the ground and roll away.

He got to his feet slowly, glaring at Adam where he stood as smoke rose from his body. Adler planted the tip of his sword's blade against the concrete and used it to stand. His shirt was in tatters and scorched from the Dust round, his body bearing faint burns.

Yang had seen the expression on Adler's face before as he fully stood. She had seen it many times. The man looked _most displeased_.

The sky lit up blue for a split-second as lightning cut down through the night, striking one of the silos and sending sparks cascading down into the crowd of White Fang. They looked up at the sky as the sparks rained, seeming to grow more worried.

This storm was not natural. Yang was sure of it. She knew the White Fang understood it, too.

"Very well then!" Adler von Sturm shouted at the top of his lungs as the White Fang slowly backed away.

Adam lowered into his iaido stance, his gloved hand lightly touching the grip of Wilt now sheathed at his side within Blush.

The Knight-Commander of Vacuo shouted in a long, unbroken yell that filled the abandoned Dust facility. Electricity arced furiously along his arms and body. His eyes shifted into a brilliant, glowing blue irises surrounded by luminous white with golden pinpoints for pupils.

Electricity began to leak from his eyes like sparking tears, electricity traveling along his body.

Adler's shadow shifted into something inhuman and otherworldly in the faint lights of the compound as his evident wealth of Aura, Semblance and pain poured forth. Yang was almost unable to believe her eyes as lightning split the sky, fully defining the man's shadow.

It was a massive bird of prey.

She recognized it as a giant thunderbird, the legendary Storm Eagle of Vacuo with wings resplendent.

Some of the electric arcs along his body reached out to his blade, running along it. He took his ancient fighting stance, his shout concluded. Lightning struck down again onto Dreadnought, not so much as harming him. The thunder was instant, the storm upon the facility fully. Rain began to pour from the roiling black sky.

His expression was stern and humorless, his almost heavenly eyes glaring at Adam.

Yang had no idea what her teacher was, but it occurred to her this was what he had trained her to do. This was the highest expression of their Semblance. This was what she became in the Valley of the Kings.

She allowed the slightest bit of emotion through her will and trembled, realizing fully the power she bore witness to was also her own.

Adler had survived from since before the Great War. His shadow was inhuman; a creature of legend. This man could not be Human anymore.

Yang pushed her emotions away with a flourish of will. Even still, she wondered if she was Human anymore. Absolute terror tugged at her will, but Yang kept it at bay with ease.

Adam did not move from where he stood, but the remaining White Fang began to slowly back off. The head of his massive shadow moved with his as Adler surveyed the enemy. He looked each and every one of them eyes as his head slowly panned from left to right.

A White Fang fighter lowered his rifle and stepped back. As Adler's gaze moved over them more and more of the White Fang replaced or even dropped their weapons, almost all stepping back further.

Yang could see it. They were afraid. Very afraid.

All but Adam.

The Leader of the White Fang held his ground in the face of what was now before him.

"I see many of you no longer have the stomach for battle! I will not kill unarmed men and women, but you will quit the field and flee from this Kingdom at once!" Adler looked at Adam. "What of you?! If it is a duel you want, Adam Taurus, then I shall oblige most gladly!"

"I will cut you down for what you have done here today, Adler von Sturm!"

"Then face me and let the gods decide!"

"Die!!"

"Justice be done!!"

Lightning flashed through the sky like a crooked, azure arrow as Adam dashed forward and Adler ran up to meet him. Thunder boomed as their weapons began to clash, the swords flashing about at near-impossible speeds. Gleaming silver Dreadnought and glowing red Wilt danced, the warriors wielding them blue and black blurs of motion only visible when the weapons locked for a split-second.

The wind picked up faster, the rain driving harder as the black clouds were wracked with lightning. A bolt lanced down and struck another of the tall silos, yet another bolt hitting the administrative building Blake was hiding out in, setting it alight.

The Leader of the White Fang and the Knight-Commander of Vacuo dueled in the thunderstorm, neither man's swordsmanship the better of the other's. Adam was faster and landed light cuts, but the knight was stronger and tougher, his Semblance burning bright like perpetual lightning.

Yang watched in awe, along with the terrified White Fang, as concrete cracked from the shockwaves of Dreadnought as it was swung by Adler von Sturm, fragments of rock flying out and holing the silos like shrapnel. She could barely make out Adam's sword, seeing only a red blur flashing about the battle. Occasionally she caught sight of Wilt proper when it fell upon Dreadnought, the clash of steel resounding over the thunder.

Suddenly, the sky went red and everything else black, Dreadnought gleaming white. Yang had seen this before, if only out of the corner of her eye. Now she was able to fully witness Adam's Semblance in action.

A chill went up her spine before the fear was pushed aside.

Adam lunged for the killing blow, Wilt no more than a black flash bound for Adler's neck.

As fast as Adam could dash and swing, Dreadnought reacted, Adler placing his right palm against the flat of the blade. Wilt impacted Dreadnought and was guided away from the knight, sending Adam off balance as blue lightning flashed through the red sky and crashed onto the white blade.

The world reverted back to its natural colors in an instant.

The Leader of the White Fang ran past, halted and looked over his shoulder, water dripping from his red hair and streaming down his mask.

Adler von Sturm still stood, his silvery sword still held in a defensive posture. Both men turned to face one-another again. Adler's eyes narrowed on Adam, electricity still sparking from them and along his body, arcing out faintly to Dreadnought.

His shadow enveloped Adam and his shadow as well.

Yang could only see his lower face, but Adam looked to be in near shock.

"That is... that is impossible!" the Leader of the White Fang roared as many more of his fighters dropped their weapons and looked at each other, fear evidently taking hold in their hearts at the failure of their leader's mightiest blow.

"I thought you fancied yourself a swordsman?!" Adler took his left hand from Dreadnought and gestured for Adam to attack again. "Come, Blackguard! The Knight-Commander of Vacuo awaits your next attack!"

"You will fall this night!"

"For the Glory of Vacuo!"

Adam yelled and charged back in, their battle resuming, the sky and compound becoming a rotoscope of black clouds to red; grey and white buildings and horizon to black. Each lethal blow of a black Wilt met the solid white blade of Dreadnought, red sliding off silvery steel a split-microsecond later as lightning struck Adler's blade.

Yang watched on as Adam went all out, every attack his Semblance. Every blow was parried away, the red sky yielding to the grey and black clouds as azure lightning struck Dreadnought. The lightning struck with such frequency night was now grey, rainy day when it was not under the lens of Adam's Semblance.

Was the lightning feeding Adam's Semblance? Was it keeping Adler alive or allowing him to deflect the blows? Yang's mind pondered the questions for a second before it went numb with awe. Her will pushed through, keeping track of the battle. Keeping count of Adam's uses of his Semblance.

It was ten seconds of the finest swordsmanship the world would likely ever know, none witnessing believing their eyes.

While their styles were very different, at full force their skill was a match.

Then it ended, Adam's Semblance forcing through an attack Dreadnought did not parry away. Wilt plunged through Adler's upper chest, near the left shoulder, blue and white electricity leaving the wound.

Adam smirked for only a split second before some realization crossed his face.

The attack had apparently missed the intended target. Yang was sure it was Adler's heart.

In that moment of insight Adam was struck in the mouth with the guard of Dreadnought, drawing blood. Adam half stumbled, was half kicked back, his sword pulling free from Adler, but still in Adam's hand. Dreadnought's guard and the knight's clasping hand guided Wilt safely free from him.

The Knight-Commander flipped his blade around as part of the motion, taking the top third in both hands and whirling around. He wielded Dreadnought like a hammer as the Leader of the White Fang attempted to regain his footing.

Adam was struck square in the mask with a murder stroke as lightning struck the opposite side of Dreadnought's guard. His mask shattered into five pieces and his nose broke under the resounding blow, sending him flying and convulsing with electricity, blood splattering onto his coat.

The Leader of the White Fang slammed into the ground and laid still for a moment, red running down the sides of his face and onto his forehead, into his red hair. The rain quickly washed it from him as he slowly stood, his pain obvious for all to see.

The lightning and electricity from Adler's wound were gone, blood staining the Knight-Commander's jacket. He seemed not the least bit slowed or phased by the wound.

"Is that all you got?!" Adler's shadow unfurled its wings threateningly as he flipped his blade back around, grip back in his hand. "Come! How strong are your convictions?! Will you die for your twisted vision?! I stand here, prepared to die for what I believe to be true! To lay down my life for Justice and the defense of this Kingdom! Will you not fight on, Blackguard?!"

"Fall back!" Adam called out, backing away as he got onto his feet, leveling Blush on Adler. He stumbled, one of his men grabbing him, keeping him from falling.

The White Fang had descended into panic, but they had not run off into the night. Their discipline was very much taxed, but it did not fully break.

Adam pushed away the fighter aiding him. "Air units, cover the withdrawal! We are pulling out at once!"

"I see you will not..."

One of the Bullheads came in low and skid into a hover, adjusting the aim of its rotary cannon as the White Fang fell back. Yang's Master left Dreadnought in his left hand alone, pulled his revolver, tapped down the cylinder two clicks with his thumb and cocked the hammer.

Adam shot at him, Adler merely holding his left arm before him and taking the blow, the flaming Dust shot shearing off his forearm and impacting him, tattering the sleeve of his jacket and burning him again, but doing no more.

The knight took aim as the rotary cannon aimed at him began to spin and pulled the trigger, a boom Yang immediately recognized echoing throughout the night. The round impacted and a bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky to where the Dust bullet hit. The Bullhead went up in a fireball from the lightning strike and sent burning wreckage flying and falling.

Adam continued backing away slowly, now standing on his own and covering his men and women. Behind him, the fallen aircraft fragments burned. The remaining White Fang were carrying away their fallen, some standing alongside their leader, rifles trained on their foe.

Even in utter defeat and terror, they retreated in an orderly fashion. It was admirable, but it bothered Yang. The White Fang were behaving more and more like a proper military every time she saw them.

The Knight-Commander did not pursue, holstering his revolver. He turned, walking away as the rain drove on, his jacket, pants, shirt and hair soaked. He picked up his scabbard and cleaned his blade on his pant leg, his gaze shifting back to Adam.

"I will have revenge for this!" Adam shouted out, motioning those near him to fall back. "This insult will not go unpunished! Do you hear me, Knight-Commander of Vacuo?! Do you hear me Adler von Sturm?! The White Fang will hunt you and yours to the ends of Remnant and kill them all!"

Adler turned, still looking Adam in his uncovered eyes. "I would kill you for making such threats, but your life is not mine to take and I am a man of honor."

Adam tilted his head. "What?"

"It is a concept a Blackguard like you would never understand. My word is binding. I will die before I break it. You, on the other hand, challenged me on my native soil and then backed down. You are a coward. You have no honor. You are worthless and if you take umbrage, come and face me again!"

"Honor?!" Adam shook his head. "The woman you spared had no honor! She is a traitor and deserves just such a death!"

"Does she, now?!" Adler shook his head. "Did she change or did the White Fang change? I remember the white wolf's head upon blue. I remember peaceful protests and Faunus and Human working hand in hand to better the lot of your people. Now look at the White Fang! Terrorists and killers!"

"This is what had to be done! Human and Faunus cannot live side by side! Remnant is not large enough for both races! Humanity's prejudice will never stop!"

"Your vision is twisted and blurred, Blackguard! Your war of genocide was never the way forward! It will only end in death and misery for all! This is likely why Blake left your organization, is it not?! She saw through your madness and hate!"

"The world refused to change so we will change it to our liking!"

"So you took on dire masks and turned to bloodshed rather than give Humanity the chance to see the error of their ways and change!" Adam's lips parted, but Adler cut him off, sheathing Dreadnought in one fierce motion. "Silence, Blackguard! Your words are poison on the wind! If I could change, any Human could. Now, however, Humanity will soon stoop back to how low you have and then Remnant will be doomed! That is Her aim, but it is not of my concern! This is not my war!"

Adam blinked, seemingly taken aback by Adler's last sentiments. "Then why fight in it?"

Yang blinked. It was a good question. Adler could apparently teleport via lightning. Why not just teleport away once he had Blake? Why even go through all this?

"I offered a peaceful solution. You turned your warriors loose upon me. You challenged me to personal combat. I did not start this battle, but I will see through any I take part in."

"Did you think we would just leave because you demanded it? Why didn't you just take her and run?"

Adler stomped his boot once. "This is Vacuo! I have sworn an oath in blood to defend this land! I will not retreat while defending it or any upon it lest my King orders it so. You will retreat, I will defeat you or I shall die in battle. Those are the only three outcomes when a Knight-Commander does battle upon his native soil."

Adam's face twisted with confusion as the rain continued to pour. "King Sandstone died during the Great War. You are a madman, not a Knight-Commander!"

"Incorrect! It was King Oriel Sandstone who bestowed upon me the title Knight-Commander! That was over eighty years ago and here I stand, the victor! Heed that as a caution, Adam Taurus!" Adler pointed at his boots. "Before we part ways you have something I will reclaim. Cast it before me."

"I will do no such thing!"

Adler pulled his revolver and leveled it on Adam. "Do not test my willingness to parlay, Blackguard! The challenged can refuse to accept the challenger's capitulation and I am far from spent! What of you?!"

Adam glared at Adler for a short while. "What is it you want?"

"A yellow bracelet. You will know it. It was on an arm you took."

The Leader of the White Fang seemed shocked, his eyes going wide. "How do you-"

"I know you have it. It is not your property." Adam pointed at Adler to retort, but the knight merely cocked the hammer of his revolver. "Silence! I will have it or I shall have blood! Furnish it and I shall trouble you no more!"

Adam sneered, his hand clenching in a fist, his bloodied teeth clenched as well as lightning flashed and thunder boomed. The wind picked up. He spat and reached into one of his coat pockets. He pulled the right half of Ember Celica out slowly, Yang watching on in stunned silence.

The leader of the White Fang complied, tossing it, sending the bracelet bouncing and skidding to a halt at the Knight-Commander's black boots.

Adler von Sturm lowered his revolver's hammer and replaced it in its holster. He plucked the bracelet from the ground with his sheathed sword and lifted it, the hoop sliding down the length. He manipulated the scabbard and tapped the bottom onto his waiting, bloody right palm, depositing the bracelet in his hand.

He brought up Ember Celica for inspection, apparently finding it satisfactory. Adler placed the bracelet into his jacket pocket. The knight pulled his now empty right hand free and gestured away.

"I am a man of my word, even when it is given to the likes of you. Go. Fear not the storm, you and your warriors will pass through it unmolested."

"Is it she that you represent to spare Blake her richly deserved traitor's death? Is it she with golden hair who desires my life?!" Adam shouted. "The woman with a child's temper?!"

"Desire implies a possibility of failure. She will have your life. Carve that upon stone, Blackguard." The Knight Commander pointed his index finger at Adam. "Cross me again Adam Taurus and you will not walk away with merely a broken nose and bruised pride."

"How do you still live, Knight Commander?! You would be well over a hundred years old!" Adam shouted angrily. "What power is this you command?!"

"My birthright and my curse." Adler shook his head and pointed at Adam. "Now flee the field! I am the Knight-Commander of Vacuo! You will take your boots from this soil before I or you shall pay dearly!"

Adam spit again, furled his coat as he turned and stormed away, climbing aboard a waiting Bullhead. He was the last of the White Fang to quit the field.

The knight waited for the Bullhead to pull off and vanish into the clouds. He turned and walked away, holding his sheathed sword aloft. Lightning slashed across the sky, his shadow's wing's resplendent.

Raucous thunder was a split-second on the lightning's tail, announcing the victory of Knight-Commander Adler von Sturm to the people of Vacuo.

"Tell me that is just some crazy old man and not the actual Knight-Commander of Vacuo who would have died eighty years ago?" Blake was standing above and behind Yang. "What is with his shadow?"

Yang's heart jumped as she relaxed her will, her eyes coming up. How long Blake had been there, Yang could not know. She did not care. Seeing her again felt almost like a dream.

Blake knelt beside her, getting a good look at Yang and at all of her injuries including her bloodied mouth and nose. Yang was soaked, her bandages faltering in the rain. The Faunus' pale face somehow found a lighter shade as her expression twisted to aghast and her amber eyes widened.

"Yang! What happened to you?! Are you okay?!"

Yang started to cry, eager to experience such rapturous emotion. She was very happy to see Blake again. She wrapped her arm around her partner and leaned into her, nearly knocking the woman over. After so much pain and suffering, Yang wanted to feel such strong, positive emotions fully and without reservation.

"I've never been better."

"Yang, I don't understand. You are a mess. You are bleeding and skin is dark and your hair. Your body. Yang, what happened?! Did someone-"

"Please never leave me again!" Yang started to sob, gripping Blake tighter, her will standing aside, allowing the flood of feelings to come to her. Tears came to her eyes as the fear, the sadness, the happiness, the regret, the pain and feelings of affection washed over her.

"Please don't run anymore! I won't let him hurt you anymore! I won't! Please! Just stay near me!" Yang sobbed, scared and in pain, unable, or rather, unwilling, to curtail her emotions. "I missed you so much! I missed you! I missed you!"

Yang broke down completely in Blake's arms. Everything she had endured for the past months fell on her. It was crushing. Her emotions were a mess. Her will could stop it, but Yang needed this.

She had kept so much inside for so long Yang needed to let some of it out. If it made her weak, at least Blake was finally there for her.

Blake was still for a moment, her yellow eyes filled with concern and confusion as the woman wailed in her arms. Slowly she hugged the battered Human holding her so fiercely. Blake's yellow eyes softened, the woman sniffing once, the rain obscuring if she too was crying or not.

"Yang... I..." Blake rubbed Yang's back, her voice a whisper in the rainy night. "It's okay now..."

Another bolt of lightning streaked down beyond them. A second illuminated them and the rooftop like day, striking down into the gravel, a pair of black boots slamming into the stones and scattering them, leaving a scorch beneath him.

"It felt good to fight a battle again," Adler von Sturm stated flatly, a few small blood stains on his arms and one on his leg, his battle with the White Fang furious. Blood dripped from his right hand and the large stain on his upper-right shoulder had grown dark. His chest, abdomen and left arm sported a number of first and second degree burns.

His shirt and jacket were tattered. His eyes and hair had returned to their normal green and white-streaked light brown.

"Who are you?" Blake started, looking up at him. "I appreciate your help, I really do, but you can't possibly be-"

"Knight-Commander Adler von Sturm, at your service."

He nodded once in greeting, Blake blinking, her mouth hanging open. He reached for her hand, took it into his and kissed it like a proper gentleman. Adler released her hand, the Faunus quickly holding onto Yang again.

"Now then, you are injured and Yang is very much spent." He glanced at Yang, a faint smirk forming within his facial hair. "She is crying."

"She was beaten to within an centimeter of her life!" Blake retorted, glaring up at Adler with hardening eyes.

Adler shook his head. "Closer than that. It is fine, though. This is Yang's choice. She can cry if she desires to."

Blake shook her head, looking back at Yang. She lifted her gaze back to Adler. "This doesn't make any sense. You would have died at the end of the Great War. Nothing I ever read about the subject said the Knight-Commander of Vacuo survived. Legend has it he helped to bury King Sandstone, but he died in the Valley of the Kings."

"Has it ever occurred to you that some things told in stories or written in books may not be true? I can produce a copy of _On the Subject of the Inferiority of the Faunus_ by Count Archibald Stone if you please. Would you agree with all written within?"

Blake's eyes narrowed. Even through her emotional breakdown Yang's will could sense that book meant something to the woman beyond the incendiary title.

"Neither would I. Count Stone and I debated the subject vigorously on a number of occasions. Once, with fists. The King Himself had to separate us. Now then, as I was saying, you are hurt."

"Says the guy covered in bleeding wounds who thinks he's a knight from the Great War."

"She is witty, Yang. I like her."

He smiled at the Faunus, Blake blinking at him. He picked up his satchel and put it over his good shoulder. Adler looked at his bleeding hand and then to his shoulder.

"I have been far worse against far more determined foes. My foe was skilled, but lacked conviction. The truest form. Not to merely die for a cause, but to question what your cause is, understanding it fully upon reflection and study and then to be willing to fight for it in spite of flaws and impossibilities against any odds to a bitter end."

"If you fought in the Great War, how can you still be alive? How are you still so young?"

Blake shook her head, still rubbing Yang's back.

"I mean, you look about forty, but still."

"I suspect you will understand soon enough." Adler looked down at Yang, Blake doing so as well, staring at the injured woman in her arms. "We must depart. I wish to treat Yang's wounds and give her a warm, comfortable place to rest. I shall also treat your leg, Blake."

Yang felt herself slipping from consciousness in Blake's arms. As far as she was concerned, she was home.

Sword still in his left, Adler's bloody right fell on Yang's shoulder. A white flash and the kiss of static on her skin and through her hair followed.

Yang passed out before the blinding brilliance faded.


	16. Strong, Young and Very Much Alive

She stirred before her eyelids parted.

Yang felt the warmth and weight of a blanket upon her and warm air on her face. Beneath and around her was the fabric and softness of a bed, something that felt almost foreign to her now. Her weariness laid upon her like so many weights, the sting of injury slowly reaching her senses.

Her eyes opened, both blackened with bruises. She found the room around her dimly lit by flickering fire. Yang's arm slowly splayed outward as she stretched, finding no end to the bed.

Memories flooded back, but weariness and pain kept her flat.

Yang sighed, not allowing something like that to keep her down for more than a moment. No protest or tactic her body tried stayed her will. She slid herself back against the pillow and found a wooden headboard behind her. Yang pushed herself up into a sitting position and took in the room.

For such a dim source of the light, Yang could make out how lavish the room was furnished. The fireplace across the room was large, the fire in it winding down. The stone fireplace was bracketed in by large shelves covered in books, small sculptures and what seemed to be weapons on display. To her left the wall bore two stately wooden doors, one at each end.

A table and dresser were in the room as well as paintings of places Yang did not recognize on the walls. One painting was a tall ship, wooden and with sails. The window on the wall opposite the doors was large, but curtained in dark blue. A massive rug covered the floor, the fine woodwork around the edges barely visible in the faint light.

The sound of soft rain on the window beyond the curtains reached her ears. There was a rumble of distant thunder.

What caught Yang's eye over all was Blake, sitting in a padded chair, her leg well bandaged and not sporting a stain. She was slumped against the back of the large seat asleep, a couple of books sitting on the reading table by the chair. Her cat ears were uncovered, her white coat nowhere to be seen and her ribbon laying on the table next to a tea cup sitting on a saucer.

Yang smiled and looked back forward at a painting hanging over the banister of the fireplace. It was hard to make out, but it looked to be four people, standing in a line. They varied in height, with the one on the far right appearing taller than the rest.

A faint whimper reached Yang. She looked to Blake and found the woman stirring, her hand slowly coming up to her face and covering her mouth as she yawned. The Faunus opened her eyes slowly, both glinting like polished amber in the twilight as they fell on Yang.

"Have a good cat nap?"

Blake sighed and lowered her hand from her mouth, but slowly a smile formed on her face. She grasped a book from the stack and stood slowly, gingerly putting weight on her leg.

"I see you haven't changed one bit."

"You're not looking hard enough. Have you seen my skin?" Yang glanced at her arm, her skin bronze. "It's one hell of a tan."

The Faunus slowly rounded the bed and approached Yang's left. She pulled up another chair from the wall and sat down, keeping her eyes on Yang as she rest the leather bound tome in her lap. The Human sat up further and glanced down at the loose white shirt she had on, feeling the tightness of bandages beneath it around her abdomen and more taped to her back.

There were more bandages wrapped around her left calf where she had been stung by Seven Eyes. The bindings on her shoulder and left thigh had been replaced as well. Yang could detect no trace of herbal remedy. She could, however, smell the faint chemical tinge of modern salves and ointments. She also felt hydrated and noted there was a small bandage taped to her upper left arm

Whoever patched her up had done it about as well as anyone could and even treated her dehydration. The bandages had just enough pressure to keep her wounds closed while still being somewhat comfortable. Not that it mattered. Discomfort was another thing she could will away.

She continued to move, sliding closer to Blake.

"Yang, lay still. You are badly injured." The concern in Blake's voice flashed through the relief. "He spent over an hour working on you. I helped. I was worried you wouldn't make it, but he insisted you would. I demanded he give you an IV. Adler did not argue with me, but I don’t think he was going to."

"Hey, I'm fine." Yang gestured to her body, wondering what it must have been like for Blake to see every one of her wounds with clarity. She had also, likely seen Yang naked. The Human put both thoughts from her mind.

"I know it looks bad, but I'm good."

"Yang, you are covered in wounds. Every finger on your hand is broken. He told me you have two broken ribs. You have a pair of black eyes and more scratches and bruises on your body than I could bear to count." Blake shook her head, a her voice cracking a little. "Who did this to you?"

"Him. He did this to me." Yang reached out as Blake set the book aside and got to her feet, the Faunus growing visibly upset, her face twisting with disgust and anger. "Don't. If anyone is going to go beat the crap out of him, it's going to be me. I went along with this willingly. Well, mostly. Either way, and try to believe me Blake, it was all worth it."

The Faunus shook her head, slowly retaking her seat and replacing the book in her lap. "Yang, what are you even talking about? He destroyed your body."

"My body will heal. What I got out of it I... well, I don't even know if you will even believe me."

"You could try telling me."

Yang looked away, her purple eyes almost glinting in the firelight. She stared at the small flame in the fireplace. Was everything she had gone through worth it? A flash of memory filled her mind’s eye, her blows raining upon Seven Eyes. The sonic booms and resounding impacts. The ancient and powerful Grimm slowly faltering under her might.

Everything weighing upon her stood aside at the command of her will.

"Master and I have the same Semblance. Not exactly. No two are alike. His has the lightning thing and mine is fire, but they seem to work almost exactly the same."

Blake blinked, leaning back in her chair, seeming to both calm down and become more confused. "Master?"

"He is my teacher." She looked Blake in the eyes again. "I have been training with him for three months. They were the three longest, hardest, most exhausting, most physically and emotionally painful months of my life. My injuries rarely healed. I still have the broken fingers and ribs I started with. I had constant black eyes for the first two weeks."

Yang touched one of her eyes and sensed the pain, but did not feel the bite of it.

"And there they are again."

"Why would you train like that? Yang, that all sounds insane. I don't understand what you could possibly learn from that sort of ordeal." Blake trembled, her expression becoming pained and her yellow eyes wider as sadness filled her tone. "You could have died, Yang."

"I nearly did. More than once."

"What could he possibly teach you about your Semblance? How could any of this be necessary?" The Faunus gestured to Yang. "Did the bastard hit you to fuel it?"

"Yes and no." Yang maintained eye contact with Blake, her will keeping her emotions neat and orderly. "My Semblance is powered by pain, Blake. Dad and Uncle Qrow lied to me or they did not know. Do you remember how, when I lost my temper, my eyes would turn red and my hair would glow gold for a bit."

"How could I forget?"

"Well Blake, when did I get hit before that happened?"

The Faunus opened her mouth slightly, but did not speak. She sat in silence, breaking eye contact with Yang and looked at the fire. A few more moments passed, the only noise the rain on the window and the crackling of the flame.

"Now that I think about it... then where was it coming from?"

"Emotional pain. My mother leaving me. Seeing you run yourself down worrying. Those things can hurt just as much as a broken finger. More even. It would flash through when I was upset or angry or whatever."

Blake looked back at Yang, evidently still confused and angered with Adler. "So he beat on you every day for three months to teach you more about pain?"

"Partly, I'm sure. Part of it was to teach the lessons. Like always getting back up. A lot of it was punishment for lack of self control."

Yang raised her hand as Blake's lips parted. The Faunus remained silent, allowing the Human to continue.

"It paid off, believe me. I can hardly put what this is like into words."

"You keep alluding to something. What do you mean, Yang? What did you gain from all this pain?"

"That’s the thing, Blake. Right now, I am not in any pain."

Blake's eyes widened, her expression turning to one of worry in the shadowy light. "Yang, I don't understand. Are you sure he did not do some kind of permanent damage to your brain or nervous system?"

"No. My mind works as well as it ever did. Better even. I can take emotion out of my decision making. I know I can. It can’t rule me anymore."

The Faunus blinked twice, seemingly speechless.

"Right at this moment, I'm not scared, I'm not happy, I'm not tired. I am completely calm. I feel absolutely centered." Yang took a deep breathe, her ribs protesting, but no pain resounding. "See, not even a wince and I have two broken ribs. I know it sounds crazy, but I can 'choose' to not feel pain or emotions of any kind. I can also choose to feel all of it, even physical pain that has long passed like this."

She lifted her right arm.

“I have it all at my command. I can give my Semblance all the pain I’ve ever known. In the past months, that has grown a lot. Blake, my Semblance has grown very strong.”

"Yang, are you sure you are okay? This sounds insane. Impossible."

"I know it does. I still 'feel' all my emotions and pain. I know it's all there, but I can just ignore it with a thought. Something deeper than a thought. Like instinct or even how you keep breathing without thinking, but can still actively control it."

Yang smiled sheepishly, letting a little worry and happiness into her heart. Blake only looked more confused.

"It's very weird. It will be useful, though."

"Well, if what you are saying is true Yang, it could be fantastic." Blake shook her head. "It could also be very sad. What is life with no emotions? What if you just decide to shut it all out for some reason?"

"I don't know. This is still very new to me. I'm letting little bits of what I'm feeling through right now and it is wonderful. Now I'm happy, Blake. It was there, but now I feel it and I love it so much. I'm happy to be alive and happy to be here with you." She blinked, smiling at the Faunus as a question occurred to her. "Where are we, anyways?'

"I don't know." Blake shook her head before looking around the room. "He brought us here. It was instant. We were struck by lightning, but we were not hurt. I've never experienced anything like it. I know I saw him do it last night, but to go with him. It was like-"

"Riding the lightning."

Blake nodded. "I can't think of a better way to put it.”

"So, where is the son of a bitch, anyways?"

Yang continued to move, pushing down the blankets. Blake stood and reached out, the Yang waving her off.

"I'm fine. I've shut the pain out and nothing dangerous is happening." Yang paused again, smirking, realizing her will's dominion stretched far within indeed. "It's so strange to just know I won't tear a wound. Feeling the tug of skin on stitching and knowing it will hold. It's like I fully understand my own body."

She shook off the wonder.

"So, how long was I out?"

"An entire day. It is getting late in the evening. I think it's after eight or almost nine."

That did not surprise Yang. "That would explain the stiffness, but I can even ignore that too. So where is he?"

"Adler said he would wait for you to wake up." Blake pointed at the door closer to the fireplace with her left hand. "He's somewhere in this house. It's huge." The Faunus grew calmer, apparently comforted by the sight of Yang smiling and moving about so easily. "This home is a noble's estate."

Yang motioned to the luxurious, if dated decor and furnishings about them. "You think?"

"I spent a little time in his library while you were asleep." Blake seemed to lighten up more, a sparkle appearing in her yellow eyes. "Yang, he has so many old and rare books. It's not a big library, maybe the size of this room, but it is neatly ordered and filled to the ceiling. He said that because I was his guest I could borrow and read anything on his shelves."

The Human gestured with her head towards the table Blake was sleeping next to, books upon it. "I see you found some time to read while I was out. Anything good?"

"Yang, he has an intact copy of _Heroes of Jorrvaskr_ with all twenty-two sagas. The last complete copy was thought lost in a fire thirty years ago. The reproductions only have seventeen of the saga. The other five were left out for being too, well, racy."

" _Ninjas of Love_ racy?" Yang asked with a smirk, having seen the book in her partner's hands once or twice, but never having read it. 

Blake broke eye contact, blushing faintly. "Vastly more so."

"Nice."

She cleared her throat daintily and looked back to Yang, her embarrassment for her apparent love of written romance and likely harder material passing. "He has an original copy of _Studies on Dust_ in good condition. It was written almost four hundred years ago and I can't read it because it is in some dead language, but he has the book."

Blake seemed to remember something and almost jumped in her seat.

"His library has four copies of _Legends of Remnant_ bound in leather and written in golden ink with colored, hand-drawn illustrations. Four copies!" Blake leaned forward, her expression still alight with a mixture of awe and glee. "He gave one to me! Yang, these are monastic copies from over two hundred years ago, most of them lost or in private collections. Adler just took one off the shelf and handed it to me and said it was mine! I had no idea what to say..."

Yang smiled at Blake's excitement, enjoying seeing her so happy. "I'm sure 'Thank you' would have been more than enough for him. Sounds like his library is paradise to you."

"I'm sure there are more impressive ones, but if you could attach it to an Academy Library as part of its rare manuscripts department, I wouldn't leave for a month." Blake covered her mouth, her expression growing more level. "Yang, that collection; this house. Watching him fight. His style of swordsmanship is almost a dead art. I've only seen that style in Professor Port's combat manuals. He really is the last Knight-Commander of Vacuo."

"I think he is."

"He would be over a hundred years old."

"I would guess 120 to 125," Yang surmised with a nod. She eyed the book in her partner's lap. "What do you have there? Something good?"

Blake's expression turned disapproving, a frown tugging at the edges of her mouth as her cat ears twitched once. She lifted the tome and held it so Yang could read it. It was the promised copy of _On the Subject of the Inferiority of the Faunus_ by Count Archibald Stone.

"Oh," Yang whispered, coming down from her own happiness a little. She was picking and choosing her emotions, still testing the limits of her newfound ability.

Limits were proving hard to come by.

"This thing is pure, bare-faced prejudice. However, it is some of the best argued, most detailed and exacting examples of prejudice I have ever read. You could see how someone on the fence could follow the arguments Count Stone laid out. The man was a genius, a skilled writer and a complete bigot to his very core."

Blake set the book back in her lap and pointed to it.

"I have heard stories about this book, but I have never even seen a copy. The White Fang burned most of them in the early days during their peaceful protest period. It was not widespread before that point. I know the Chief Librarian of the White Fang has two copies, but they keep them for propaganda purposes. After reading it, this book is an amazing source of very infuriating sentiments."

Yang knew this was going to be a can of worms, but she decided to open it. "I'm going to be dumb and ask for an example."

"Count Stone pitied the Faunus. He believed us too simple minded and lacking of mental facilities to fully understand the things we did. In fact, he was more lenient on Faunus criminals than Human in his lands because, and I will paraphrase, 'The Faunus simply does not know any better'. He looked at us like simpletons and children. That even our best and brightest were merely imitating Humans and that we could not stand on our own."

Blake sighed.

"I don't agree with any of that, but some of his arguments about aggression levels and, well, let's call it 'promiscuity' are very persuasive."

That second one was interesting. Yang blinked. "How convincing?"

Blake tapped a single finger on top of the book, obviously very perturbed. Her eyes narrowed. "I almost agreed with him on both points. The thing is, it has more to do with the culture of being discriminated against than genetics. Being put under such pressure and lashing out or seeking comfort. It's... I won't... they got it right."

The Faunus sounded vexed by her own conflicted emotions. Yang was slowly regretting opening the can, but here were the worms. Blake looked very agitated, her cat ears twitching.

"They?"

"Yes, they. However I may feel about this book," Blake continued, her expression softening as she paused, "this copy is unique. It has writing in the margins and many notes inserted and pinned to pages. In two very distinct handwritings. One was written by a Human, but the other and the first, was written by a Faunus. I'm almost positive the Human was Adler. It is his copy after all."

"Do you think the Faunus was a woman?"

"Positive."

"Shino," Yang whispered. She recalled Adler saying her name on the rooftop.

Blake tilted her head.

"One of Adler's teammates. She was a Faunus. Apparently, they fell in love."

"That would explain a lot," Blake whispered, her eyes moving back and forth as she apparently thought about something. "They broke down every argument for the inferiority of the Faunus. She broke down all of them, some better than others. He went after the ones she fell short of overturning. I got through all of this book earlier today. I could not stop reading it."

She tapped the book again, absentmindedly.

"This should be published. It reads like a debate between Stone and Shino, with Adler stepping in now and then to outright challenge the man with cold, hard facts." Blake looked into Yang's eyes. "It's not an easy read. It grinds on you. As a Faunus I almost felt dirty reading it. You can tell Shino knew Stone was factually wrong, but was just not smart enough to argue it eloquently enough to win a crowd. That she kept all this bottled up inside."

"And Master?"

"Adler was angry." Blake took a breath, seeming to think on the subject. "His notes were uncommon, but very well thought out and so well put he could win a crowd in open debate. It seemed like he wrote his notes after Shino. Well after. After years of reflection."

"Master said he and Count Stone got into a fight over that book."

"After reading this, I believe it. Yang, I can't believe I'm saying this, but if there was ever a book that needed to be burned... not this copy, though. This... this is special."

Yang could see the Faunus was troubled, still tapping the tome.

"Blake, are you alright?"

"Adler **loved** Shino. Now that I know who wrote the notes and their relationship, it's clear as day. He absolutely adored her. It must have pained him greatly to see the way she was treated in their time." Blake sat silent for a moment, picking up the book and putting it aside on the bed's nightstand. "He lost her at the end of the war, didn't he?"

Yang nodded. "In the Valley of the Kings."

"Eighty years without the woman he loved," Blake whispered.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. The Faunus opened her eyes, looking back into Yang's.

"I don't agree with how he trained you at all and I might slap him next time I see his face, but if you say your Semblance is powered by pain then I believe you. You wouldn't lie to me about something like that, Yang. That means Adler's Semblance is as well."

"Master said he had a lot of pain to pull on for his Semblance. Seeing Shino treated like dirt by a Kingdom she fought to protect and watching her die for it. Eighty years without her. Never being able to have children with her." Yang sighed. "Yeah, I can see how that's a lot of pain."

Blake nodded. She looked around the room once more as thunder rumbled outside in the distance, the rain still falling.

"I heard about what happened to your home on Patch. Is this where you have been training?"

Yang laughed at the very notion of her teacher allowing her such luxury as the current surroundings during her training. She was surprised to be enjoying it even now.

Blake leaned back a little, her expression growing more concerned. "Yang, nobody knew where you went. Your house was burned down and your father was nearly killed. Last I heard from Ruby she was so worried about you. Weiss is sending me and Ruby messages every chance she gets asking if we've heard news about you."

Blake looked away.

"We... I thought you were..."

"How is Dad?" Yang smiled faintly at memories of training with Taiyang as a little girl. They were so clear. Her will had something to do with it, she was certain of it.

"I haven't heard anything about him until last night."

"Fine now from what I've heard, but he was hurt very badly." Blake blinked, tilting her head, seemingly taking in Yang's question. "What do you mean you had not heard anything? He's your father, Yang."

Yang shrugged. "His fate was irrelevant. I could not help him, alive or dead."

Blake broke eye contact with her, looking to the fire. Her eyes seemed to shimmer with the faintest bit of mist. "You didn't care?"

"I worried every night, but Master would not tell me anything about Dad. It was part of the training, I'm sure." Yang smiled faintly, trying to lighten the mood. "What about my sister?"

"Last I heard from Ruby she, Jaune, Ren and Nora were still in Mistral. They make a good team, apparently." Blake started to grow emotional, speaking of their friends obviously a hard subject for her. "Ruby has no idea what happened to you, either. Where have you been, Yang? You should've contacted her."

"I couldn't. I wanted to, but I realize now why I couldn't. What I've gone through feels like something that had to happen in isolation. Like I was put in a pressure cooker."

Yang noticed the mist coalescing at the edges of Faunus' eyes, a tear running down one of Blake's porcelain cheeks. The Human smiled at her, just glad to have a friendly face around.

Very happy to have her face in particular to look at.

"Blake, I'm glad you’re here. I missed you so much."

The Faunus jumped a little in her chair at the last words, fighting back tears and slowly failing. The distractions of books, Yang’s condition and where they were had passed. In the quiet, confronted with one another once more, Blake’s facade looked to be cracking up.

Something was very much eating at her.

"I... we, we were so worried about you. Your sister and Weiss. Your father too I'm sure. Even Jaune, Nora and Ren. Nobody knew. I couldn't find your uncle though Ruby said he did not know either."

Blake's tone grew shakier with each passing moment.

"I... I thought you were dead..."

The Human took a deep breath, realizing she was not the only one under the impression someone close had died. Yang moved her feet off the edge of the bed and planted them on the rug. She stood tall by Blake covered in bandages, wearing only the clean large white t-shirt and a clean pair of her tight black shorts.

“I’m right here, Blake. See, standing on my own two feet.”

Yang wrapped her arm around Blake and pulled the woman's body to her own. The Faunus was hesitant, but Yang reeled her in, planting her face in her chest. The Human looked down into her eyes as Blake looked up.

“Then… last night… you were so badly hurt. All your wounds. I thought… I thought I was going to watch you…”

"Hey. It's okay, Blake. I'm okay. I don't think I've ever been better."

Tears came to the edges of Blake's eyes, the woman turning her head and resting the side of her face against Yang's chest. Both of Blake's arms slowly embraced the golden-haired, bronze skinned Human.

"I... you... your arm and... then... Yang..."

Yang felt her emotions come up and quickly checked them. The night before she was beyond a wreck and could only speak what was in her heart in the moment. Now, however, it was Blake coming to terms with what had happened in the past months.

Last night, Blake was her rock to cling to. Right now, Blake needed a rock in kind. Yang rubbed her partner's back.

"Everything is going to be fine now."

"How?" Blake whined, apparently troubled by Yang's sentiment. "Beacon is overrun with Grimm, Weiss can't leave her home and the White Fang grow stronger and more brazen with each passing week. Vale and Atlas are engaged in open war. There have been air battles off Vale's northern coast. It's all falling apart."

"It'll be alright, Blake."

"No... Yang... I've been fighting the White Fang from shadows for half a year now. Nothing I do slows them down. Adam has done something with the White Fang. He's risen in power and esteem. I think he's united the cells behind his vision. I..."

"Blake, what did I tell you about putting the world on your shoulders?"

"Yang, someone has to stop this!" Blake's voice was trembling and ready to break. "They have more fighters and better weapons every month. They fight harder and harder every time I see them."

"I noticed. They used to run right when a Hunter or Huntress would show up. They did not retreat from Master until Adam gave the order even though they were terrified. They did not run from that night on Patch until my uncle and mother showed up." Yang shook her head, her expression grim. "They are becoming a real army."

"The White Fang are terrorizing Menagerie now. You are either with them or against them. The middle ground is gone and those against the White Fang are removed. Violently." Blake grabbed onto the back of Yang's shirt, her voice a whisper. "That would have been unthinkable to the leadership before, but now Adam might be a breathe away from taking complete control."

"It's all going to be-"

"No! Adam has to be stopped!" Blake began to shudder, her tears flowing faster as she started sobbing. "I... I... Yang, people have been killed because I couldn't... I can't stop this. It's too much! I couldn't save them! I tried! I tried, Yang!"

Yang closed her eyes, took a deep breathe and slowly exhaled. Blake’s despair went deeper still. While she was lost in the desert with a man with no name, Blake was busy fighting in what amounted to real war. The Faunus had likely seen terrible things.

"I know you have done everything you could to help, Blake. A lot of people are alive because of you."

"And more are dead!" The Faunus went to pieces, sobbing uncontrollably as she tried to shrink away and let go of Yang. The Human squeezed her, keeping Blake from slumping back into the chair as everything she likely endured all alone for months came crashing down upon her.

Blake's hands opened momentarily, but slowly she held back onto her partner.

Yang stood stoic, holding onto her partner, glaring out over her with a hard expression, her purple eyes surrounded in black bruises faintly glinting in the shadows. She released her emotions, deciding to not hold them at bay now.

Anger and sadness welled up within. Yang wanted to break something. To scream and throw something as she fully knew the Faunus had, once again, taken on too great a burden. One Blake simply was unable to bear alone.

Yang's eyes glowed red as she hugged Blake with one arm. Her hair cast a golden glow, embers rising from her mane as it gently illuminated their corner of the large bedroom. Blake's crying abated slightly, the Faunus looking up and finding Yang's hair burning softly. She watched an ember waft away and slowly fade in the dimly lit room.

"Yang...are you... you're in pain..."

"I care about you a lot, Blake. It hurts to see you like this. I know you did everything you could, Blake. It's just... in war, people die." Yang's tone was measured, yet intense. "You are a Huntress and you kept fighting and you survived. What is there to be ashamed of?"

"But I've failed so many times, Yang."

"But you have not given up. What's in the past cannot be changed Blake, but we can do everything we can to help make the world better. You or I alone won't be enough, but together maybe we can make a difference?"

Yang rubbed Blake's back and leaned back from the woman. The Faunus gazed up into Yang's red eyes with reddened, wet yellow eyes.

"What's important is that you and I are together again and you don't have to run anymore."

"I'm sorry," Blake whispered, her red face wet with tears and her eyes still filled with mist, her cat ears folded back and voice small in the faint illumination from Yang's hair and the fireplace. "I had too. To keep you safe. I had to hunt down the White Fang and... and they still went after you. They hurt your father and destroyed your home. Yang, I'm so sorry, I..."

"You don't have to apologize for anything, Blake. I was angry and sad that you left me, but I think I understand now. You did what you thought was right. I can’t be mad at you for it."

The Faunus broke eye contact, seemingly not accepting Yang's sentiment. She looked at Yang's right arm, the wound where the lower limb was once attached no longer covered in bandages. It was twisted with scar tissue.

"You got hurt trying to protect me..."

"Blake, if there is one thing I want you to understand it is that you can't do something like this alone. It'll break you down."

Blake looked back up at Yang's intense red gaze, the faint glimmer of hope in the Faunus' eyes.

“I know… but…”

"I wish I could have helped you, but I was weak, childish and brash. I couldn't even protect myself back then. My mother had to save me once. My temper ruled my emotions. I thought I was beyond the pain of being abandoned, but I've learned how wrong I was.”

Blake blinked. “But you were always so strong… in so many ways.”

“Not like now. Now, I could not have it all under more control. I think I am finally ready for this war. I want to fight for what I believe in, but I want to do it alongside someone I care about. Please stay close to me from now on. Never run again."

"Yang..."

"Blake, last night, I told you I would keep you safe. I cannot promise you we won't get hurt or that we will live through this, but I will do everything I can to protect you. If we die side by side... well, that would not be so bad."

"You are so different now..." Blake's voice was a faint whisper.

Yang's crimson eyes were unflinching, but her growing smile and softening facial expression were warm and reassuring. "The Yang you knew at Beacon is not dead."

"She just grew up," Blake whispered, nodding.

"We are partners, Blake. That means neither of us run from the other. Your problems are mine. My problems are yours." Yang smirked, her lips still cracked. "You watch my back and I'll always have yours. Together we will make the White Fang pay for what they have done."

Blake stared at her in silence for a moment, her lips parting slowly.

"I believe you."

"I know you do."

"You need time to recover, though. You can't go fight like this, even if you can choose to not feel the pain."

"I know. There are still a few things I need to do. To learn."

"Still, I can't wait to see the look on their faces when they see you. When they hear you talk. Ruby is going to tackle you and Weiss... she just needs a friend right now. She's all alone up in her father's tower."

"I can't wait to see Ruby again." Yang smirked. "Do you think Weiss will be less jealous now that my tits are about the size of yours?"

Blake laughed and blushed faintly, Yang’s words cutting through the weight of the moment.

"What happened to them?"

"A crash diet."

The Faunus still stared up at her, resting her chin between the Human's bosoms. "What kind of diet was it? Did he feed you dirt and broken glass? Did you drink kerosene?"

"No, it was much more reasonable than that. Master started me on two glasses of water and a single meal a day." Yang smiled wide. "By the end, it was half a glass a day and a meal every three or so days. We were training in the desert, by the way. Haven't had a period in two months, lost a lot of weight, my hair got wrecked and I collected a bunch of new scars. At least I got a killer tan."

Blake blinked, her expression both astonished and agitated. "Seriously, how did you not die?"

"I refused to." Yang stated matter-of-factly, Blake no less astonished. "Though, so little water probably explains why I don't have to use the bathroom right now. And why I'm thirsty."

"Y-yeah... um, Yang?"

"Yes?"

"Your eyes are still red and your hair is still golden." Blake reached up and grabbed an ember floating from the Human's abused mane. She opened her palm, the small mote of golden light gone. "You seem to be better. I feel better. Are you casually maintaining your Semblance?"

"Yes. I don't even need to bang my broken fingers into a piece of stone to fire it up now and I think I can keep it going so long as I have Aura. Just use my will to feed it some pain, a little Aura and off it goes. Hey, which do you prefer?" 

The Human lowered her Semblance, her eyes and hair cooling to violet and blonde. She brought her Semblance back on with a toothy grin and lowered it once more with a blink.

"Red or purple?"

The Faunus blinked. "Yang, you can just bring it up and down at will now? That must take a lot of Aura and control for you, considering how your Semblance works."

"Impervious willpower is awesome. It's like a dial on everything you feel."

"It's a neat trick."

"I can already tell it will be really useful. So Blake, what do you think of the new Yang?"

"I think it’s very good to see my friend again." Blake rubbed her eyes against Yang’s shirt one at a time, jiggling each of the Human’s diminished breasts in kind.

"She's changed a lot, but I'm very happy to see her again."

"I'm happy to see you, too."

Blake smiled up at Yang, the Human smiling back. She hugged the Faunus tighter, her hand stroking the brunette's hair. They remained there for a moment, silent, Yang continuing to caress the Faunus’ hair. Her chest rose and fell with her breathing, her bosoms rubbing Blake’s cheeks each time she inhaled.

The Faunus’ eye slowly widened, seeming to become suddenly aware of something as Yang's expression softened into pouting lips and narrowing eyes. Blake began to blush and broke eye contact.

"What's wrong, Blake?"

"Um... you're holding me a little tight. Your heartbeat is strong."

Yang smiled, her will overriding any sense of doubt or self-consciousness. She could feel Blake's heart pounding through her skin as well. If not now, when?

"Blake, I've got something to tell you."

Yang's arm released Blake, her fingertips gracing the woman's chin, and holding her face to look her in the eyes again. Yang drew in closer, violet mirrored in amber and yellow reflected in amethyst as they looked into each other's eyes. Their faces were a breath apart, Yang's nose almost touching Blake's.

"Y-yang... I..."

"Blake, I-"

Blake pushed in and brushed her lips against Yang's. She backed away after a second, her face bright red and her yellow eyes filled with fear.

"Yang, I uh... I'm sorry, I could not help it. I thought... but you're... damn it, Count Stone you bastard... no, I mean... Yang, you told me to go to the dance with Sun. You're probably not interested in-"

Yang wrapped her arm around Blake's back and lifted her from the chair, a yelp of fear leaving the Faunus. She threw her onto the bed. The Human quickly got on top of the Faunus and managed to pin the struggling woman with her body and single arm, Blake trying to push Yang back with a hand on her right shoulder and failing miserably.

Blake was completely outmatched by Yang in terms of strength back then and vastly more so now.

"Um... Y-Yang. I’m… please don’t hurt-"

Yang pushed her face close to Blake's and kissed her, Blake whimpering in her mouth and quickly going limp, ceasing to try to push Yang off. The Human pushed her tongue past Blake's lips and into her mouth, pushing her body against the Faunus beneath her. Her partner reciprocated in kind, her tongue passing into Yang's mouth.

That stayed kissing for nearly a minute, sharing and enjoying the moment.

Yang broke off the kiss and leaned back a little, a beet red Blake looking back at her, mouth still ajar, her tongue still sticking out a little. Blake's cat ears were folded back submissively, her eyes wide with still apparent shock and bewilderment. The Human's narrowed purple eyes glinted in the dim firelight like a predator.

A deadly, powerful beast gazing upon something small and helpless, but not with malice.

Only affection.

"Look at the pretty kitty." Yang's words were a capricious hiss of a whisper.

Blake stared hard at the lone arm managing to hold her against the bed. Her gaze slowly rose to Yang's and quickly averted aside, the Faunus' face growing redder still.

"Yang, your eyes."

"What about my eyes, little creature?"

Blake's eyes widened as she looked at the wall. The shadow atop her on the bed was massive, winged and with a long neck gazing down with a reptilian head and a long tail slowly waving about.

The Faunus trembled under the Human. Or perhaps, Dragon.

"Y-Yang..." Blake almost choked on her name, her eyes large with small circles of yellow around big black pupils. She seemed frightened.

"Tell me about my eyes. You didn't tell me if you preferred red or purple?" Yang leaned in closer, her lips just off Blake's ear. Her tongue flicked over skin and the Faunus shuddered anew. "Would you like to see my other eyes? They are **frightening**."

Blake clenched her eyes shut. "Your shadow... why is your shadow... why are you..."

"I will not hurt you. I will stop if you ask me to." Yang's whisper was not dark or threatening. It was forthright and honest in her own voice. As mighty as she was, she could never bring herself to force anything more upon Blake. Deep down, she was second-guessing such an aggressive play, but Yang felt it in her core.

She was a spirited and passionate woman. Her love and lust burned like an inferno.

"This shadow is... and you... Yang... what are you now?"

"Whatever my Master is... and I would be lying if I said I didn't like it."

Blake looked back up at Yang, the Human smiling down at her. Yang's expression had softened, her arm relaxing the pin. The Faunus glanced at the wall once more to find a pair of humanoid shadows upon the bed.

"You're very powerful, Yang."

"More than I think either of us knows. But I won't hurt you, Blake. You are safe with me."

They were silent for a moment, gazing into each other's eyes.

"Your eyes are so beautiful. The red is fine, but I prefer purple."

Yang smiled at the answer. "Me too."

"You've always been so strong. You were there for me like nobody else when you helped me set aside my obsession with the White Fang. I did not realize what I felt was... until... until you tried to save me from him." Blake seemed to flatten beneath Yang, any tenseness in her body leaving her. "I'm just... you could have anyone, Yang. All I ever did was got you hurt..."

"I got me hurt."

"But, I'm not spec-"

"Yes you are. You are the most special woman I have ever laid eyes on."

Blake's mouth opened slightly, her expression turning back to faint surprise and the red in her pale face growing deep.

"You are the most mysterious woman I have ever met. You always keep me guessing. You are smart, witty, beautiful and fun to talk to. I kept how I felt in, not sure if you were interested in this kind of relationship. I don't think your interests are as exclusive as mine, but something always told me you might, just might, have an interest in women. Am I right or wrong?"

"You are not wrong."

Yang smirked.

"You are still pinning me down..."

"Do you want me to stop pinning you down to the bed?"

The Faunus closed her eyes and exhaled, her breath hot on Yang's chin. She shook her head.

Yang's heart began to race, her will allowing any emotion that wanted through past now. The faint burn of venom in her blood rose with her heart beat, but was kept from being painful.

"How far do you want to go?" The Human narrowed her eyes and gestured her head to the wall bearing their shadows. "Do you want _that_ back?"

Blake shook her head vigorously with wide eyes. "I'm not ready for that. That's scary and sexy and I'm curious but I'm terrified and... and... n-not the first time." Blake sounded slightly panicked and a just a bit aroused by the notion. The Faunus took a deep breath and exhaled. "I hope that made some sense, I'm-."

"I understand. Do you think all this is too fast?"

"Yes, but after all that has happened in the past year, everything has been too soon."

Yang nodded, but noted there was still the faintest bit of anxiety in Blake's yellow eyes.

"You're scared."

"Very anxious. Just... just take it very slow and be gentle. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"Don't worry about me." Yang smiled, her eyes filling with both passionate intent and kindness. "I will be extra gentle when I move your wounded leg around, kitten. You’ll be nice and safe in my jaws."

Blake whimpered.

"If I am interrupting something," Adler von Sturm's voice began from the doorway, "I can leave you ladies for the evening."

Blake's face found a darker shade of red to take on, her pupils narrowing to pin-points. She covered her face in evident embarrassment.

"He moves quietly..."

"Yes he does."

Yang looked over her shoulder at her teacher, the man standing just inside the room in a white shirt and blue jeans, clean black boots and a matching belt. Like her, he was covered in bandages, one wrapped around the palm of his right hand. His facial hair and hair were better trimmed, if still full and slightly overgrown.

Adler smiled at her, Yang smiling back.

"No lecture about how this makes me soft or is a weakness?"

"You are anything but weak. Those lessons are over. Only you can decide what luxuries of life you will enjoy and to what extent." He nodded, his expression warm. "You both are strong, young and very much alive. If you want my opinion, you should act accordingly. I shall be waiting in my den."

Yang rose to a kneel, straddling Blake, and caressed her cheek, keeping her eyes on the man. Adler walked over to the fireplace and tossed on a couple more pieces of firewood, stirring it up and getting the fire going again.

"It'll be a while. I have a lot of living to catch up on after six months of hell, Master."

Blake made an embarrassed, plaintive noise.

"I am a mostly patient man and I do not sleep much. I will be enjoying some music, a glass or two of whisky and a book in my favorite chair. Listen for the music and you shall find me." He nodded to them as he headed back for the door. "Yang, Blake; I wish you both a lovely evening. I have enjoyed many in that bed. It is sturdy and will serve you both well."

"Any advice?" Yang asked off-handed.

Somehow, Blake turned another shade redder. "Did you just ask him for advice..."

Adler smirked. "Do not disappoint her."

"I won't disappoint anyone anymore. Especially her."

"I know you shall not. Life is rich. Live it most fully." He walked out and closed the door.

Yang glanced at the painting, the lighting improving as the fire picked back up with fresh fuel. The four figures were more defined now, standing before what appeared to be some sort of tapestry.

On the far left stood an attractive woman clad in black leathers and grey cloth with shoulder length black hair and piercing blue almond shaped eyes. A pair of what appeared to be short swords hung at her sides from slightly wide hips, a red cloak just off her shoulder. A black leather harness bracketed in her ample bust, four revolvers holstered on the harness. The silver medal clasping on her cloak marked her as a leader of some kind.

Next to her was a tall, gorgeous, womanly and well endowed woman with cinnamon skin and long black hair. She wore a black noblewoman's evening dress, had plenty of gold jewelry and showed plenty of skin including generous cleavage. Her orange eyes and golden jewelry seemed to almost glow in the painting, a single golden dot on her forehead. In her out held right hand her jewelry glowed more noticeably, a ball of flame suspended in her palm.

Next to her was a modestly attractive woman of equal height to the first with a feminine, well proportioned figure in a white and green kimono. The rim of a conical reed hat on her back showed above her shoulders around her head. Her hair was brown and long, atop her head a pair of wedge-shaped white and brown dog ears, her eyes intense and brown. In her hands was an bolt-action rifle with long bayonet, a katana and wakizashi sheathed at her side through her wide green sash.

To the far right, taller than the three women, was a man she recognized now a Sir Adler von Sturm, only younger, with a clean shaven face and no white in his hair, but sporting his facial scar. His clothing was a nobleman's attire, blue and white complete with a blue cape and metal spaulders, gauntlets and greaves with his sword Dreadnought planted and standing beside him, his left arm resting on it. His right hand held a large revolver upward at his side that she did not recognize. Around his neck hung a medal of blue ribbon bearing a golden circle. Upon the circle was engraved a flaming heart.

The painting had a small bronze plaque on the bottom of the frame that read ‘Team PRSA’.

"Team PRSA (Prussia). Wow, this is his house all right." Yang stared at the painting, realizing who the women were, especially the one in green and white. She felt Blake's hand fall gently on her cheek, drawing a wide smile. She looked back down at the woman. "Right... now, where were we?"

Blake leaned up and kissed her, giving Yang an enthusiastic reminder.

"Petting the kitty and making her purr. That's right."

Blake sighed and her ears twitched, but she still smiled. "You're not going to make stupid remarks like that all night, are you?"

"That's the last one, I promise." Yang leaned in.

"Yang, there is one more thing you need to know before we take this step."

The Faunus sighed, her expression becoming less enthusiastic. Yang paused and pulled back slightly, watching Blake's eyes narrow from some emotional burden.

"Adam and I... were once very close." She looked away from Yang, her voice small. "This kind of close. I hate him now for what he has become, but once, I loved him dearly. He was all I really had. My mentor. I... got attached. I know the timing, but you deserve to know."

Consider what Yang knew of Adam’s behavior towards Blake, it made perfect sense to her. She expected to be upset, but Yang was not moved to anger. If anything, she understood. Raven was her mother, but Summer was Mom. Adam was once the person there for her when Blake was all alone.

"You have terrible taste in men," Yang stated matter-of-factly.

Blake blinked, looking back into Yang's sparkling amethyst eyes filled with kindness and a bit of understanding. The Faunus' yellow eyes narrowed, a small smile forming on her face.

"Yes. Yes I do."

"Unfortunately, you have similar taste in women."

The Faunus laughed a little, the trepidation gone. Yang smiled back, closing the distance between her and Blake once again, accepting her and everything about her. Blake had once hurt her, but Yang was sure love was at least a few parts pain.

And the pain was a fine remainder Yang was, indeed, alive. Alive enough to enjoy life and to love.

Their shadows would play across the walls for hours.


	17. Great Beasts of Legend

Yang walked down the long hallway, the occasional door to her right and evenly spaced curtained windows to her left. Outside in the midst of night the rain still gently patered the glass. Beneath her bare feet was soft, but worn carpet bracketed in by wood flooring.

She straightened out her oversized white shirt as she walked, a small grin on her face and a bit of fluster still in her cheeks. Yang's purple eyes took in the hall through an almost dream-like haze. Certainly she could push such feeling away, but the woman would never dream of it. Her blonde mane was tied off behind her head with Blake's ribbon, her hand coming up and absentmindedly playing with the length of fabric.

It was after midnight. Time meant little to them in the moment. Yang exhaled contentedly, her partner having fallen fast asleep before she even dressed and left the large bedchamber.

Down the hall she could make out the faint sound of music. Near the end dim, dancing light emanated out from an open door. As she grew closer the sound became more clear. The music was bluesy guitars, a deep bass, the backbeat from a drum kit and a voice slowly coming into focus.

Yang had never heard the song before, but it guided her further down the hall. The music was obviously a recording, through somewhat scratchy in the fullness of the quality. The singer was good. That much Yang could tell for certain.

Yang reached the doorway and stood within it, Adler von Sturm sitting in a fine leather chair with his back to the door, the moderate sized den faintly lit by a slowly dying fire. It was filled with book shelves covered in tomes as well as trophies and small statues of various kinds. On a far wall was a number of paintings, but Yang's eyes were quickly drawn to above the fireplace.

The head of a Alpha Beowolf was mounted over the fireplace as a trophy. It in turn was over a musket with a faintly glowing red dust crystal clasped in the firing mechanism hanging above the mantel.

She froze, suddenly recognizing the room, looking at the low table near the fireplace and finding it clean. Instead of blood, bandages and surgical tools a few books, Vanquisher, a wooden box half full of large Dust rounds and Dreadnought in its black leather sheath laid on the table.

Yang felt a sense of vertigo and a hint of anger come up, but both were quickly put aside by her willpower. Unfortunately, she also put aside the lingering afterglow of an evening’s lovemaking, coming back to her newfound center. Still, she did not move and only stood in the doorway, the music playing from a fine phonograph complete with large horn on a table by Adler's leather chair.

"I love this music. I was not what I listened to when I was your age, but Vacuo Blues grew on me. This singer in particular. I was fortunate enough to attend a few of his smaller concerts before he passed away on tour in Vale well before your time. Like many great musicians, narcotics and alcohol took him far too young."

Adler glanced at her over the edge of his leather chair and smirked, the bluesy guitar solo playing out.

"This music is likely not to your taste."

Yang blinked, her expression blank. She was not sure what to say or do. She decided to enter and walked up to the record player. She found the record cover beside the phonograph and inspected it from where she stood.

"Stevie Ray Vaughn... never heard of him."

"As I said, before your time. Modern music is terrible." Adler pointed to a curtained window as it to gesture to the greater world. "It is overly loud for no discernible reason, comprised mostly of computer generated noise that passes for instrumentation to the modern generation and the singers rarely write their own songs or even play instruments. The music of my time was big band and orchestral. It was and is fine music, and the jazz that followed was even better."

Adler smiled wide, lifting a tumbler filled with whisky from the small table bearing the phonograph. He took a long sip and set the glass down.

"However, rock and roll and the blues, now there one can find some of the finest expressions of the musician’s art. It is music with a soul. Music driven by emotion. Love and loss. Anger and sadness. It matters not which form, be it Valen Hard Rock, Mistral Delta Blues, Vacuo Desert Blues or Atlesian Speed Metal, love almost all forms of rock and roll and blues."

Adler lifted the needle from the spinning record and placed the arm on the small holder, flicking a switch and turning it off. He gestured to the other leather chair near his, opposite the small table and phonograph.

"Have a seat."

Yang rounded the back of the chairs and took her seat, finding the leather chair very comfortable, if slightly worn from age. She looked at one of the book shelves, taking in details she overlooked in her panic her first time in this room. Between two sets of leather-bound tomes held at bay by bookends was a marble bust of a woman with triangular dog ears on her head.

He seemed to notice the path of her purple eyes in the faint firelight.

"You asked their names that day, the anniversary of their deaths." Adler gestured to the bust on the shelf. "Her full name was Shino Hayashi and very likely, she was the love of my life. My best friend, the lady with the red cloak and brace of revolvers, was Pepper. The noble woman with cinnamon skin covered in golden jewelry with a penchant for overly scandalous attire in those day was Rukmini. That was my team. Team PRSA."

"Prussia?"

"In a long dead tongue, simply a shade of dark blue."

"And you are Sir Adler von Sturm, Knight-Commander of Vacuo."

"The one and only." Lightning flashed outside the windows, the curtains pulled back, illuminating the room for a split second. "I suppose you have many questions. Now, after all you have come through Yang, you deserve to know all you desire to. Ask, and if not bound by honor in some fashion, I shall answer."

She looked at the man, having come to understand since that day in the Valley of the Kings he was far older than he looked. His facial hair served to make him look older and his face was slightly worn from the sun and elements, but he had no real wrinkles or age lines. He seemed to be physically in his prime.

What looked ancient was his eyes. This was a man who had seen a lot.

The trappings of this room and of the room she and Blake shared earlier troubled Yang now. She did think of it at the time, so captivated by Blake's presence, but she now remembered very clearly that the nobility of the old days were cast down at the end of the Great War. How did Adler still live in such an estate surrounded by such treasures and wealth?

Was he now a high ranking Vacuo government official? Was he perhaps even a member of the ruling council? Yang did not keep up with those sorts of things. However, Blake would likely have known, being so concerned with the plight of her people and the predations of governments. The Faunus did not mention if Adler was someone of importance in the modern world and Yang was certain Blake would have if he was.

"Master-"

"I will ask that you not call me that anymore. You have earned the right to call me about anything else, but I prefer Adler. A student calls her teacher Master. You are no longer a student. You have accomplished something truly astounding and, as such, you are now my peer. You lack many things I possess, but you are still my equal."

Yang's heart warmed a bit at such lofty praise. She remained level headed.

"Adler. you were born before the Great War. That would make you about 120?"

"127."

"It was probably the sun or the hunger and thirst or pain that kept me from really being bothered by it in the Valley of the Kings. I was so worried about Blake last night I didn't think too hard about it. Even tonight, I was so absorbed in talking with her and testing my will's ability I rattled off my guess at how old you were and didn't think twice about what that meant. How is this even possible?"

He smiled, another flash of lightning illuminating the room and thunder chasing it only a second later.

"That is a lovely trophy you have in your hair. A lady's favor I am certain was justly earned. I am most certain you did not disappoint her. Is it all the sweeter she was once your enemy's? Is it sweeter still you may have fulfilled her better while physically lacking in more ways than one?"

Yang touched the ribbon holding her hair back and narrowed her eyes at Adler. "How do you know about her and Adam..."

"You learn to listen closely with the years. To linger at doors, though not too long as to be in poor taste. Enjoy your time with Blake. Through bloodshed or the cruel march of time, she will leave your side for the rest of your days. It may be weeks, it could be decades, but one day, she will be gone. I hope you can hold her hand in your own when she passes, but then that will be a curse."

He looked Yang’s widening purple eyes, a bit of sadness and compassion in his green stare.

"To be so young and healthy and watch your lover wither away from age."

Yang blinked twice and took a long, deep breathe. She held it in, her will fighting off a riot of emotions. The woman slowly exhaled.

"You can't mean-"

"Since that day over eighty years ago when the venom of Seven Eyes entered my blood the ravages of aging upon me have slowed to a near halt. It is a side effect of sorts that arises from when your Aura and Semblance alter your body to survive such a dire poison. I have aged, yet I have done so very, very slowly and I suspect this shall be true of you. If not in battle we shall both still one day die. How long that takes, I shall someday inform you. I have gotten quite the head start, but as of this moment I have no idea how long either of us shall persist."

Fear crashed up against Yang's will and was turned aside. Something in her fate would not mirror his so similarly, but now she knew what she faintly suspected. Yang would walk the road of ages as Adler had.

Yang imagined herself young and beautiful standing at Blake's headstone in the rain, all she knew dead or old. An elderly Ruby with a cane clung to her shaking grasp offered her comfort, but she too would soon be gone.

Her exterior was perfectly calm, but her eyes remained wide in the faint glow of the flames. She stared at Adler, a new breed of pain taking root within her heart. It not for her willpower as it now was, the thoughts running through her mind would have made Yang scream.

"I don't want this. Take it away."

"It is not possible, lest you take your own life."

"Adler," Yang growled, her eyes narrowing and glowing red as her hair illuminated golden. "If you had told me this I would never have trained with you. I don't want to live to be hundreds of years old. I don't want to outlive my sister or Blake. I'm not sure I want to outlive my Dad."

"You are approaching this from the wrong perspective. It is understandable. You, up until now, very reasonably expected to die within the normal bounds of Human lifespan."

Her fist clenched. "Don't get obtuse with me you son of a bitch."

"Yang, life has and always shall be about enjoying the company of those you care about while you can, never knowing how long that may be. Life is uncertainty. Ruby could pass tomorrow. Blake in a month. Your father in thirty years. You could die in battle in a year. Blake could live to be an old crone and Ruby older still with you to keep them company and safe from a lifetime of enemies. Your father may now, at this very moment, be dead from slipping on a cube of ice. Uncertainty is the nature of life."

Yang blinked again, her eyes returning to purple as her hair cooled to blonde. His words began to sink in.

"Life is also about great experiences and simple pleasures. Like bedding the woman you love in luxurious accommodations. Spending time with friends and family, sharing stories and eating good food. For me good music, a warm fire on a stormy night and a glass or two of fine, smooth whiskey are most fulfilling. I shall miss the music most when I finally pass."

He lifted his glass, a tumbler still more than half full of brown liquid, and took a long sip. Adler set it back down.

"The only thing that has changed is that life will be very long for you. Still, think not of things that may never come to pass. Focus on the now. Your future will always be there if you still live. If not, than what of it? We are all fated to die. If there is one thing I hope you can learn from me even now, it is that. Enjoy life while it is yours, Yang."

"Blake..."

"Was yours tonight and I smell your conquest upon you. You wear her ribbon in your hair. You bedded your foes former lover and made her your own and I would wager a fortune you did so better with one arm and no manhood. I bet it was gloriously fulfilling and wonderfully comforting."

He looked at Shino's bust and smiled.

"I know it was for me. Life is wonderful, Yang. With any luck, you will have hundreds more nights as such for the rest of your time with Blake." He smiled warmly as he looked back at Yang. "Enjoy it. I had only three years as such with Shino. I wish you tenfold and more with Blake."

Yang sighed, nodding slowly. She still could hardly believe what he was telling her, a part of her deep down still not wanting to believe. Her will, however, allowed her logic to rule her. As angry as she was and as frightened and sad as she could be, something in Yang told her this happened for a reason.

"I see you contain your strong emotions. What do you think of your now invincible will, Yang?"

"It's keeping me from pounding you through the floor. It's keeping me from screaming and crying and running back to the bedroom to hold Blake like a terrified little girl."

"I am sure you are aware it is capable of so much more."

Yang nodded. "What was the point of this? How did I get this? Does surviving a sting from Seven Eyes give you this sort of willpower?"

"Yes and no. His sting allowed me to unlock the full potential of my Semblance. As you have, in essence, the same Semblance as I his venom would and did the same for you. Survival was not a certainty, but I had faith in you. However, as I am sure you have realized, something dwells within. Something that is very much who you are, but is _monstrous_ in nature."

She looked him in the eyes, lightning flashing outside the windows. For a split second the illumination two massive shadows of legendary creatures at ease covered the wall behind them.

"My shadow is a dragon. Your shadow is a storm eagle."

He nodded.

"Why?"

"We have gone beyond mortal limitations, Yang. Ours shadows tell the world the true nature of our souls. While our bodies may be Human, within we are something entirely not. You have the soul of a dragon, Yang. A creature of fire and death. Who amassed treasure and terrorized all things weaker than it which were most. A beast legends tell bowed to none and could challenge the gods. Whose proud heart was defiance incarnate."

"And you're a thunderbird."

"A creature of thunder and lightning. A beast who is moved to action by deeds of great courage and who punishes oath breakers and the dishonorable without mercy or remorse. A divine agent of Justice. A beast that summons and commands the very storm."

He raised his right hand and snapped as his eyes turned blue and his hair white, lightning flashing outside the windows bright enough to nearly illuminate the room for a fleeting split-second. Furious thunder ratted the floor, windows and walls faintly instantly.

Yang smirked, genuinely impressed. "Nice."

Adler grinned wide. "Yes, a fine parlor trick."

"You ever do that to pick up women?"

He laughed, a glint in his green eyes. "Only twice, but yes of course." Adler sighed. "Jesting aside, there is a drawback to having such a soul. It is inhuman. It is a monster. I am certain you have felt its sway upon you."

Yang sat silent for a moment, realizing what he was talking about. She nodded, looking to the fire.

"That day in the Valley of the Kings, I don't think I have ever been so angry. I wanted to kill you so much. I mean, I still want to punch you a few times..."

"Understandable."

"But _that rage_. That fury." Yang looked back into his eyes. "I couldn't control myself. It felt like I was watching it all happen. Sure, I wanted to kill you for risking my neck like that, but part of me almost understood and wanted to stop. I couldn't stop it even if I wanted to. The more you pushed me to stop the more I defied you."

Adler nodded, seeming to understand fully.

"And then with Blake..."

"Hmm?"

"I felt it again when I, well, when I pinned her to the bed. It was there. I wanted her so much I almost crossed a line and just took her. She couldn't stop me and my desire to have her was so powerful I think I would have even if she begged me to. It was like I wanted to collect her or something. Like I had to own her."

Yang paused, taking a deep breathe, fully realizing how close she came to doing something terrible. Embarrassment and shame tugged at her will, but she kept it at bay handily. Even still, she looked away from Adler.

"I pulled back. I kept my desires from ruling me. As badly as I wanted to do with her as I pleased no matter what she said or did, I restrained it. I would never do something like that without her permission."

"Precisely. A dragon would never act in such a manner should the legends be true."

Yang blinked again and looked back into his eyes. "Ma- Adler, my will is so powerful I can keep the monster under control."

"Yang, if any ever call you dense or unperceptive, they are the fool. As usual, you are most astute."

Adler lifted his glass and took another sip before setting it back down. He scratched his beard and nodded.

"Without your now unbreakable will, the true nature of your soul, awakened by the manifestation of the greatest expression of your Semblance, could very easily get out of hand. As I said upon your victory over Seven Eyes, your will was imperfect. It was very strong, but not absolute. It had to be absolute."

"Without perfect willpower I would lose self control while using the strongest version of my Semblance."

"You have known it first hand."

Something suddenly troubled Yang deeply. "Then why risk that? Why let my Semblance get that strong and then try to get perfect willpower to control it. Why not have the willpower first, then have no risk of my Semblance making me a mindless killing machine?"

"Because, unfortunately, that is how it must be done. Yang, there are only two ways I know of to obtain imperious will." Adler raised his left hand and extended his index finger. "The first is to train your willpower and Aura for many, many years. A lifetime or more. Some have done so. You have met one such individual."

Yang blinked a few times and looked away. She searched her memories, pushing away unnecessary emotions with her will. After nearly a minute of silence her back straightened and she snapped her purple eyes onto Adler's green. Something about His self control and expression of emotion always seemed slightly off.

"Headmaster Ozpin."

Adler nodded. "With enough training and focus, one's Aura can turn them into something much more than just a mere man."

"Three months is not a lifetime..."

He raised his middle finger alongside his index. "The second was how it was once done, long ago, amongst a very specific group of warriors. How you and I have done so. It is unique to our Semblance in that, at its greatest expression, our soul transforms into something monstrous and irresistible. After that moment has come to pass, we must prove an unwillingness to yield no matter the cost to control our new nature. We must resist the irresistible and, with so much power now at our disposal, our will never takes a step back from that impossible place it arrives to."

"That stunt on the roof. I had to go down there and save Blake myself at the cost of my life with everything stacked against me or fold like a hand of bad cards."

"Yes."

"What happened if I folded?"

“I had faith you would not."

Yang's eyes narrowed, his unwillingness to give a straight answer agitating her. "Adler."

"Dwell not upon it. You had a single life in the balance I was certain you would not allow to slip away. You had something I did not for your training."

She still wanted her answer, but Yang decided to see where he was going. "Which was?"

"Me. Someone who has walked that path I brought you along. Someone who found the traps and pitfalls the hard way. I kept you upon the safest path through a very dangerous process. While the instrument is different from how it once was, we are not the first of our kind."

"What are you talking about?"

"Yang, our Semblance is ancient. It was once seen often in the northern lands now known at Mantel, but now it has become far more rare. We were once called Berserkers. However, everyone hears that word and thinks of mindless men and women swinging axes and foaming at the mouth."

Adler shook his head.

"Those were the warriors who sought to imitate the real Berserkers. The imitators wore bearskins to alter their shadows, claimed that animal as their totem and fought like one; boldly and without fear, seemingly ignoring their wounds. You and I are the genuine article, Yang."

"Real shadows. Real souls of animals."

"Oh yes and very legendary ones. We possess a very real resistance to pain in that it makes us stronger rather than weakens us. Aspects of pain such as shock are a non issue when you can will it away. We are also far from mindless in battle. Quite the contrary. It is in the crucible of bloody battle when we impose our will most upon our bodies and emotions. We look to observers like wanton killers. Murderous monsters in the shape of man or woman casting inhuman shadows."

"Like a raging dragon or furious storm eagle."

"Yes. They only see and understand the fury of the storm before them. They do not see the eye of that storm. Our will, wielding our bodies and powers like a weapon. Our very human and even humane natures and principles imposed upon the beasts we now, in essence, have become. You may very much have the soul of a prideful and rage-prone dragon Yang, but your heart and mind are your own, imposed upon the beast by your invincible will."

"We're monsters with Human hearts and minds."

"I could not put it better and more concisely. You are a dragon who will not simply take what she desires and even enjoys sharing what she has with others. I am a thunderbird capable of staying my hand in the face of the dishonorable when tact is called for and telling a lie when necessary, as distasteful as I find the act."

Adler lifted his glass and had another sip.

"We are walking contradictions. Monsters with principles. Uncompromising beasts who can be reasoned with. Mortals who are not limited by mortality. Ruthless killing machines that will show mercy."

Yang understood him completely. She realized his lessons and tests had brought out of her two very different powers. One, an expression of her Semblance that made her, in essence, a dragon. The other, the ability to control that monster she now was without fail.

Both were useful on their own. Combined, Yang would tremble at the notion if not for her will. She recalled Adler in battle and understood fully what could now be the extent of her might.

"Have you tried willing your shadow normal, Yang?"

She nodded.

"It is useful to hide your true nature from the world, should you desire so. However, at the highest expression of your Semblance, that will not be possible. Your soul will be on full display and nothing will mask it then."

Yang thought for a moment. "Were the original Berserkers also as long lived as us?"

"No. As I said, our longevity comes from the instrument of our transformation. It is a side effect of the venom of Seven Eyes."

"What did they used to use to get to their strongest version of their Semblance?"

"Pains unlike any other of this world."

Yang tilted her head. "Could you be specific?"

Adler sighed, lifting his glass and having another sip. He set the tumbler down and looked Yang in the eyes. "Do you wish for me to regale you with stories of ancient torture devices and methods, some of the very specific and unseemly methods used to transform women with our Semblance into berserkers and dark stories of slow murders of loved ones before warriors lashed to stones or sturdy trees?"

She leaned back in her chair, suddenly realizing as bad as her training seemed, the old ways were far more brutal than anything Adler imposed upon her. He came very close to one, however.

"The venom of Seven Eyes is a shortcut for this more civilized time. One I discovered by pure happenstance when he stung me."

Yang sighed, nodding slowly. "I still can't get over this curse of living so long. It must be lonely once you reach this point, Adler."

"People come and go, Yang. I have never loved a woman like I loved Shino, but some have come close. One in particular, in fact, came very close. A red-eyed woman with hair black as night. A fierce, intense woman who.gave me two children before she passed."

Adler stood, glass in hand, and walked to the fire, picking up a piece of firewood and tossing it in. He grabbed a poker and began to stir the coals and stoke the flames.

The room grew brighter, more color coming into the paintings along the wall.

Yang blinked, one in particular catching her eye as the lighting improved. She stood and walked over to the far wall, drawn to the painting like moth to flame. She looked up at it in stunned silence, emotions coming to her she did not wish to curtail.

Before her in the painting was a little girl, with black hair and red eyes wearing a black and white kimono. Her expression was stern, even as a child.

"M-mom..."

"I did not name them. Their mother had the clever idea of naming them to honor their father. Birds." Adler shrugged, looking over at the wall of paintings where he stood before the fire. "It made her happy to name them in such a way, so who was I to deny her? They took her family name. After all, my line should have been snuffed from history with me in the Valley of the Kings."

Yang turned, her eyes wide, almost glowing purple in the growing firelight. Her thoughts raced and her heart pounded in her chest. The venom’s burn tugged, but was kept at bay.

She would have froze in complete shock if not for her will.

"The same Semblance..."

"Not often hereditary, but it can be."

"You're... you're..."

"I am your mother's father. Your uncle's father, highly disappointing man that he has turned out to be." He nodded in affirmation. "I am your grandfather, Yang. I would prefer you call me Adler though it is certainly your prerogative to call me gramps or something agitating.."

Yang shook in place, still unwilling to impose her will on her emotions. She was not given over to a stranger by her mother. She was not left in the care of just any man. Uncle Qrow had never mentioned his father and Raven was aloof here entire life.

She calmed herself slowly, realizing what had come to pass suddenly made much more sense. "The last time I asked who you were..."

Adler lifted his glass. "Someone who cares about you. I told you your mother did not abandon you. She has always left you in the care of men and women she could trust implicitly."

A child's impulse raced to the fore of her consciousness uncontested.

"Where is she?"

He laughed and shook his head. "I have no idea."

Yang sighed. "Why am I somehow not surprised?"

"If I knew, I would tell you without hesitation. We are not very close anymore, your mother and I. You uncle will not even speak to me. I was surprised to see him here that night with Raven." Adler set the poker down and looked at the table next to him. "You know, I never knew what Raven saw in your father, aside the handsome face and muscular physique, but, that night, I finally understood."

Yang looked at the table. "This must have been somewhere Mom thought they would not follow."

"None know of the significance of this manor. If the White Fang did, well, it would be a suicide mission to send less than an army to my home. None will come into my home to harm my daughter or son. My granddaughter and her father." Adler paused, looking at his glass of whisky. "Yes, Taiyang certainly has risen in my esteem. He was more than willing to give his life for you and in spite of the odds once having done so managed to live. He is a hard man to kill. A fine man."

It sounded very strange to Yang to hear someone call her mother and uncle daughter and son. Her logic told her this was indeed happening, but her roiling emotions begged to differ. They were quickly silenced entirely as she returned to emotional center.

"I think so."

Adler nodded.

"She had not asked of me anything in years, so when Raven brought your father here I cleared the table, got my medical kit and did all I could." Adler sipped his whisky again and looked at the fire slowly growing again. "She must still love him dearly to bring him to me in his hour of need. I am no surgeon, but I have patched plenty of wounds. Most my own. I managed to get your father stable enough to make it to real help. It also gave your uncle and mother a safe place to put you until they could decide what to do."

Yang turned and looked at another painting, this one of a young Qrow. She had seen a picture of him young once, but to see a painting made her head swim at the new reality she found herself in.

"This is crazy."

"He hated paintings. Hated standing still that long. It took some time for me to 'get with the times' and hire a photographer. I prefer the paintings, but I am 127 years old." Adler rubbed his wounded shoulder as he walked back to his chair and sat down. "You, though... you are different from my children."

Yang looked back at him. She blinked, not sure what to make of that.

"I meant it as a compliment. I taught them how to fight. Qrow diverged early from pure swordsmanship into the realm of his mother's weapon. However, I personally trained Raven until she attended Academy to become a Huntress. She saw one of Shino's katana and kimono and asked about them. I must have filled that girl's head with dozens of stories about Shino, her clan Hayashi and their proud warrior tradition. Your mother fell in love with it."

Yang drew closer, having had no idea where her mother learned to use a katana and now knowing. She imagined her mother, wide eyed and innocent, marveling at stories from his man while likely sitting on his knee.

It humanized Raven to her in a way she never dreamt before.

"Shino had taught me how to fight with a katana so I taught your mother. Now, well, she's quite likely surpassed Shino's skill, but that monstrosity of a scabbard of Dust blades she carries would make Shino sputter with indignation. Modern weapons technology has come a long way, but they lack the understated style of the classics. Too many moving parts."

She walked closer and finally retook her seat. Yang looked at the revolver and sheathed sword laying on the table. "Like Dreadnought?"

“Precisely.” He picked the sword up and presented it to Yang handle first.

Yang pulled the sword from its scabbard and was surprised how much it shined in the firelight. It was like holding a mirror. She could see the runes along the length of the broad fuller. She tilted her head and squinted at the archaic writing, trying to make sense of it.

Adler must have noticed. "In the face of terror, evil, injustice and death not one step yield and dread not."

She looked him in the eyes. "So that's where the name comes from."

He nodded. "Dreadnought was forged from steel infused with four kinds of Dust, the power imbued directly into the weapon by a master smithy the likes of which this world will never see again. That sword has served my family for four centuries. Likely, a handful similar to it are left in the world and none in such good condition."

"It's old fashioned, but I like it," Yang whispered, turning it around slowly, finding the weapon supremely well balanced for its length as well as surprisingly light. She slid the sword back into the scabbard, Adler setting it back on the table.

"And then there is that thing," Yang started again, looking at Vanquisher. "You know, these days, the weapons turn into guns old man."

"And I think that is bullshit."

Yang looked at him and laughed. His expression remained matter of fact. It certainly seemed like he meant that. His weapons bore it out.

Adler looked at the revolver on the table. "It is not to say I do not appreciate the power of modern weapons. Take Vanquisher there. Minimal Dust infused into the steel, but the ammunition uses large amounts of the purest Dust I can acquire. I hand load every single round and handcraft each and every bullet and casing. I made Vanquisher myself. It has taken nine iterations to get to this version."

Yang inspected the weapon from where she sat, more familiar with it. Part of her did not want to touch it again. She refrained from doing so.

"That would explain why it doesn't match the one in the painting."

"That was the second version. This version can handle any Dust round my imagination can concoct. Lightning Bolt rounds would have once blown anything before the seventh iteration to pieces. This version can fan out six without fail. The first two versions of Vanquisher were top-break and both blew up."

Adler laughed, raising his left hand, scars on the edges and in the palm.

"The second version nearly got my thumb. From that point on, I realized a flip out cylinder would be the best option. A pity. From a style perspective, is there a revolver more stylish than a top-break?" He scratched his beard. "Perhaps I will experiment with it again."

Yang shook her head, laughing a little, but growing curious about something. It dampened her mood a little, the woman deciding to let her emotions have more play.

"I have a real question."

"Ask."

"If my mother doesn't like you all that much, why would she kick me through a portal crying and with a broken rib to train with you in the damn desert?"

"She was tired of seeing you in danger and unable to save yourself. You had run into dangerous situations, but that night it came for you where you should have been safe. Not wanting to see her daughter die young and for no good reason, she turned to what some might consider drastic measures. The night she and your uncle brought you and your father here Raven asked me to train you.”

“She had to know what you were going to do.”

“She knew exactly what she was asking of me. It was I who had second thoughts and she told not your uncle until later. He would have protested furiously. Raven wanted you to realize your fullest potential, but more so, she wanted to make sure you would never again be unable to save yourself. She did it out of love, Yang."

Yang blinked. The answer made sense, but the last sentiment stuck out immediately to her. The little girl deep inside longed to hear that. She fought off the emotions with ease.

"That doesn't sound like my mother."

"Wanting you to realize your potential?"

"No, the last part."

"Yang," Adler began, smiling faintly, his green eyes reassuring, "your mother is not a woman to love much of anything. I can probably count what she cares for on one hand without all fingers. At the top of that list, however, is most certainly you. Your father is probably a distant second and look to what lengths she went to for him? Raven has a strange way of showing how much she cares."

He gestured to Yang's right arm.

"She could have prevented that, but you would not be the woman you are today if she did so."

"Qrow told me she wouldn't intervene on my behalf ever again, but that night on Patch-"

"She intervened on your father's behalf. You happened to be present.”

“Wow.” Yang rolled her eyes. “Lucky me.”

“Raven is all about tough love. As was I. She responded to it well. Qrow did not. That boy ran to his mother and then, when she passed, all the way to the bottom of a bottle to get away from me. I suppose I was too hard on him. I expected too much of my son as he is my son.”

“Are you really that disappointed in him? Uncle Qrow is great… mostly.”

“Do not get me wrong, Yang. He is a decent swordsman and his skill with the scythe is very impressive. I am certain he was very amusing to you and your sister, which is fine for an uncle. The dependence on alcohol is a real shame, however. He lets emotions rule him far too much and even the alcohol cannot curtail his outbursts. I heard of that stunt of his at the Vytal Festival. Very distasteful, destroying another’s property and fighting in the open around bystanders to show off. I would have charmed the elder Heiress Schnee into a bed to prove to her my worth, not challenged her to a duel in the streets. Just… disappointing."

She winced at the harsh assessment of her beloved Uncle. Yang shook it off.

"I can see why he doesn't like you."

"I never said I was a great father, but I do care for my children. I instilled strong principles in both of them." He picked up his glass and took a sip. "To your doubts, I say never doubt your mother loves you, Yang. She is always watching her little girl. She knows what you have accomplished thus far. I am certain she is curious to see how much further you shall go."

Yang was still troubled about her mother. She simply had to know more and this man could tell her.

"Why does she never speak to me? Why does she never spend any time with me?"

"That is a question, sadly, I cannot answer for I am a man of honor and it is not my place to tell you. Suffice to say, you may want to listen to your Uncle Qrow on the subject of your mother. She holds a number of dangerous beliefs. When the time is right, Raven will come to you. Just do not count on a hug or kiss on the cheek."

"Now I see why Uncle Qrow never told me much about her... or anything about you." Yang sighed, accepting what she had been told. There was not much she could do, only now, she better understood. In a way, that might be enough.

"I hope this day you are talking about is sooner and not too late."

"Your mother is your mother. She will not change now. Raven shall elude you. I am as restless a soul as Raven, but I shall not actively avoid your company. We have a lot in common, Raven and I. You have my Semblance, however. You share my birthright and my curse, Yang. You have become what I have. We have very much in common, I think."

She shook her head, rejecting the notion. "I'm not like you at all."

"Not exactly, no. You are more carefree. You like childish jokes, plays upon words and the damn puns."

Adler glowered at Yang. She smiled back wide.

"You likely enjoy the revelry of a party. I enjoy peace and quiet. But how different are we, really? At our core we are a couple of brash, blunt objects ready to run headlong into a fight. To get cut up bloody and smash all opposition in return. Why we do it is different. However, we will time and again until one day, the universe decides we did so once too many."

Yang sat silent. The first thing that came to mind that would drive her to fight was suddenly the only one that really mattered.

"I will protect who I love and keep the weak and innocent safe."

"A Huntress’ vow. I can find no fault for there is great honor in willingness to fight and die for such things."

"Yeah, and if they fuck with my hair," Yang added with a smirk, a glint in her eye. "Then that's death."

Adler ran a hand through his hair with a wide smile, apparently as vain about his mane as Yang was about her own. "I can find no fault in that either. Actually, I can quite easily, but I care not."

Yang laughed, running her hand through her hair. "It's so fucked right now..."

"It will recover with time, I assure you."

"Oh, I know. Too bad about your gray, old man."

"Nice try, but that is not from age. It is a side effect of the Semblance."

That caught Yang off guard. He picked up his glass and took a sip. Adler sighed and set it back down.

"Wait, so, you're saying..."

"Look at your skin, Yang. That is no ordinary tan. As you observed, your breasts should not have been bronzed by the sun. Nothing under cloth should have. I was not fully honest with you. The relentless sun burned your skin at first, but once your Semblance reached a certain level of power you began to darken. In some small way your Semblance is always smoldering within you. It manifests by tanning your skin and is now keeping it bronzed. My Semblance is always sparking faintly. It whitened small steaks of my hair and that way they have remained."

Yang looked at her arm, not the least bit troubled by that news. If anything, she was excited and happy to keep her new skin tone. "Well, it's an awesome side effect. I would’ve killed for a tan like this."

Adler ran and hand through his beard. "I appreciate the streaks of white in my hair. They make me look distinguished and experienced. Worldly."

"And old."

Adler smirked. "Careful there, young dragon. You still rest in the eagle's nest."

Yang gestured to a window. "Is the storm thing also a part of your Semblance."

"Certainly. Our Semblances can manifest in other, more dramatic ways once we attain our highest expression. The more pain you feed into your Semblance, the more potent such displays will be. We both carry a reservoir of pain that will only grow with time. Mine is considerably larger and thus I can call the storm, but your reservoir is rather impressive for you age. I would be surprised if you did not soon see a more grandiose manifestation of your Semblance's elemental affinity when it is at fullest power."

"What do you think it will be?"

"I have no idea, though I suspect it shall involve vast sums of fire or some manipulation of your will upon it."

"Sweet." Yang smiled wide, looking forward to finding out what she might be able to do. "So, when do we go out and save the world, grandfather and granddaughter fighting back to back? Sounds like an awesome Flint Westwood movie."

She held her hand up in a fist, smiling as her amethyst eyes glittered. “Adler von Sturm the Knight-Commander of Vacuo! Yang Xaio Long and her faithful partner Blake Belladonna! Can they save the world?”

Adler seemed to grow more serious. "Yang, the challenges you shall soon face I will not take part in. This, quite simply, is not my war. My war was fought long ago. These problems the world faces today are, in my mind, a direct byproduct of the outcome of the Great War. This is the fault of the victors, not of my nation who was defeated. We would have never allowed Her to come this close."

Yang tilted her head. He had referred to a 'Her' when talking to Adam. She had no idea who it could be.

"Her?"

"You will understand soon enough, Yang." Adler sighed. "More things were at stake in the Great War than territory and pride. Ideas, Yang, can be more dangerous than any army. Some had to be stopped at any cost. My King and his finest warriors, I and my comrades amongst them, sacrificed victory in the Great War to stop one idea in particular. It remains to be seen if we succeeded or if we were even right to attempt such a thing."

Yang sat silent, having no idea what he was speaking of. She only knew he seemed slightly disturbed and that troubled her deeply. "Will you tell me what your are talking about?"

Her grandfather shook his head. "Not tonight. Not anytime soon. This society and iteration of civilization created this problem. It shall have to solve it. I shall continue to protect Vacuo for that is my duty as Knight-Commander. That said, I despise those who rule this world. I care for the Kingdom and her people. Not the rulers."

Yang was taken aback by his analysis of the situation. She was not sure why he thought this, but she did not push, merely nodding. He had been set in his ways and beliefs for this long, she was not going to try to sway him.

“I will say but one more thing on the subject. Something we have spoken of before. Something you observed to be contradictory of our world. Names of color is an old custom from Vacuo and yet we were the defeated. Think on that, Little Dragon of Sunlight. Listen to the words of this old Eagle of the Storm."

His words did trouble her. The question rose in her mind once again. Why adopt a custom from a defeated nation across the globe? Yang put it from her mind, having no answers.

"So I guess I'm on my own."

"You shall have your friends and allies, but yes, I will not fight of my own volition. If your enemies come for me, I will make them pay for the insult. Furthermore, like your mother, I will not intercede on your behalf again. This is your fight, not mine. Your training was my one intercession. You have taken it and mastered it. I know what you have learned shall serve you well."

Yang nodded, a little disappointed he would not help directly. Still, he had given her more tools than she had before. She had some very powerful weapons to wield in the struggles to come.

"I understand."

"What I shall offer is this. You may well fall in battle one dark day. I promise you, on my honor, if you fall and I yet live, I shall retrieve your body and lay you to rest in the soil of your homeland. I will take you to Patch and bury you with my own hands and raise for you a proper monument befitting a descendant of mine who met a warrior's end. If it be such a dark day, I will lay Blake to rest beside you. Carve my words upon the stone."

She was genuinely touched. Her grandfather had guaranteed her a proper burial. He cared that much and, in a way, it was more than her mother ever offered. She hoped he never had to make good on his promise.

"Thanks."

"Do not thank me. A proper burial is your right. I am most proud of the woman you have become. It is good to share your company. A many have sought to slay great beasts of legend. We instead became them."

Adler took another sip of alcohol. He lowered the glass, but kept it in hand.

"So then, any other questions for me?"

Yang had one that quickly came to the fore in her mind. "You can teleport. The lightning thing. You are one place. Lightning strikes where you are and you are gone. Lightning strikes somewhere else and there you are."

He nodded once more. "Yes."

"Mom can too. The black, red and purple portal she jumps into and out of. The one she kicked me through."

"Yes, that is how her aptitude with it manifests. Both are dramatic, both are fitting. I ride the lightning. She flies through shadows. Teleportation is a hereditary ability passed down through the von Sturm line, though not everyone has the ability. My mother was incapable of it. Qrow is as well. I only gained the ability after reaching the greatest expression of my Semblance. Raven, however, is very capable for her age."

Yang had to know. "Is it possible for me to learn how?"

"Yang, you already can. I have witnessed it with my own eyes." He smiled at her, the young woman taken aback. "In the Valley of the Kings. You eluded a killing blow from Seven Eyes and closed the gap between you and I by teleporting. Your manifestation of it is also fitting."

"A blast of flame and I'm gone. A blast of flame and there I am. I burn."

"You remember now."

Yang nodded. "I don't really know how I did it. I was not in complete control. I thought I just dashed or moved really fast. Can you teach me how to control it better? To take people along with me like you can?"

Adler leaned back a little in his chair. "Do you still wish to learn from me?"

"Ma- you know what, yes, Master. You have brought me this far. I have to know. How much more can you teach me?"

"Yang, you brought yourself this far. I just shepherded you along the path and gave you the occasional kick in the ass to keep going. I can teach you some of the finer points about our Semblance and how to enhance your focus. Meditation is key in training and maintenance of your skills. It allows you to revisit that which you have experienced to better comprehend and understand.”

“That’s why you were always meditating. You were training, too.”

“Yes. As well as reviewing what I had seen of your training that day and previously. I engage in meditation often. My training regiment if far more mental than physical these days. I shall now add my duel with Adam Taurus to my mental training regime. I learned much from facing one such as he."

"And the teleporting?"

"That is a difficult ability to learn to master, but I am certain I can give you an edge in learning to do so. Bringing others along requires a high level of skill, but I am certain you can learn to do so." He glanced at the fire, the small pieces of fresh firewood having mostly burned down. "It is getting late. I am able to meditate and thrive on minimal sleep, but for you that level of meditative benefit is far off."

"Speaking of sleep, what's the deal with the cot in the room over there that I woke up in the last time I was here? What was that about? You have a huge bedroom with a huge bed." Yang smirked. "Blake and I liked it a lot, by the way. Plenty of... uh, space."

Adler smiled.

"Happy to hear it. I gave you two my room because I do not sleep in it anymore. Too many memories that gnaw at my will in quiet moments. I do not have much use for sleep, so when I do, that little storage room works fine. Just a simple cot, sheet and pillow. I mediate mostly as it is. For me, it is almost as good as sleep."

"Well, I want to sleep and you say I still need to, so I am going to. I don't want to leave Blake alone any longer than I have to. Need to make every moment count if I'm going to... outlive her... for a horribly long time..."

Yang sighed, not fully used to the notion. Once more her emotions rose up. Once more, the jackboot of her will stamped them down.

"Good philosophy."

Adler reached down under the table holding his weapons and books and lifted a polished, wooden box with small brass handles.

"Before you return to Blake, this is for you Yang."

Yang took the box by the bottom on the palm of her hand and noticed it had some weight. She set it down in her lap and opened it. Within on the lid were fastened both halves of Ember Celica. She was happy to see her girls and finally have both back.

What surprised Yang, however, was what was at the bottom of the box on a velvet pad. She felt excitement and happiness in sharp clarity.

"That... that's a..."

"A combat-grade cybernetic arm. Fully upgradeable and customizable. It is the latest model not yet available, straight from Atlas Military Research and Development. This one in particular was designed for a specific person; a blonde haired loudmouth of a girl from Patch.”

She was speechless. Yang took in the black metal and yellow accented limb. It was perfectly proportioned for her body and anatomically ended where her arm would begin. As accustomed as Yang had become to having one arm, the cybernetic arm designed for her was one of the most wonderful things she had ever looked upon.

“H-how?”

“It was delivered to me by Raven from your father. He received it from a smuggler who brought it to Patch from Atlas at the behest of a certain unnamed benefactress within the Schnee Dust Corporation. I have kept it here for two months, waiting for this day."

“I’m going to have two arms again. I-I…” Yang’s eyes misted faintly. There was no way she was going to keep these feelings held back. “Weiss…”

"Later in the week, you shall be receiving cybernetic surgery from two Schnee Dust Corporation surgeons. They are performing annual checkups on various high-level Vacuo officials as well as Hunters with Atlas-made cybernetics, but before they return to Atlas, they are installing an interface port on the end of your right arm."

Adler smirked and pulled a sealed letter from under his phonograph, placing it inside the box. It was stark white and of very high quality paper, the snowflake symbol of the Schnee family embossed on the envelope.

"I would assume the unnamed benefactress with small breasts sends her deepest regards."

Yang was deeply touched by Weiss's generosity and kindness as she stared at the letter that simply read ‘Yang’. A couple of tears rolled down her cheeks.

"She did this... for me?"

"It is good to have friends in this world, Yang. No matter how long you live, keep a few friends. They make the years weigh less severely as they mount. That is advice from not only a long-lived man, but your grandfather. Heed my wisdom."

Yang nodded.

"Your father knew you were alive the whole time. Not even your mother is so cold as to keep the fate of his daughter from him. The others, however, reacted in various manners I am certain. It would seem this friend held out hope for your return. Otherwise, why provide such an expensive, custom made and borderline experimental gift."

"She never gave up on me..."

Adler nodded.

"Weiss got me a new arm and free installation." Yang blinked, looking her grandfather in the eyes. "Wait? How did she know so quickly to setup the surgery so soon?"

"She did not know. Apparently, she had great faith you were not dead. I have already forwarded her second letter to the Schnee Dust Corporation Office of Vacuo. It would seem she took no chances with the delivery and installation of your new arm. None in the company are foolish enough to disobey a letter from Weiss Schnee signed by both her and her father. From what I understand, the smuggler she used was one of the best and highly trustworthy."

"I need to stop making Weiss feel so inferior about her chest because she has a big heart behind those tiny tits." Yang glanced at her chest and looked at him sheepishly, a bit of self consciousness creeping into her mind through the open door of her will.

"They, uh... will come back, right? I’m not frozen like this, am I?"

"Your body will recover from wounds like normal. Faster, actually. With a couple of months of proper eating and rest Blake shall have a real pair of pillows to cat nap upon." Adler raised his glass. "Eh?"

Yang stared at him with a flat expression. "Your jokes are lame. I still want to punch you for that 'disarmed' line you asshole."

Adler laughed. "You should have seen your face."

Yang looked back at the cybernetic arm.

"Upgrade ready, huh? You know, I've been thinking... Ember Celica is great and all but my father was onto something with the new style he was teaching me. It was more balanced and was better for defense. Adding in attacks from my legs gives me some range. I need that, but they could use some help. Some kick."

He pointed with the hand holding his glass. "I see what you did."

"That's how you play on words, gramps. I need to get to a workshop once this thing is attached. I need to make something."

"Well, I did not create Vanquisher with simple tools. I have a workshop that is fully at your disposal. It even possesses the modern fabrication equipment you are accustomed to working with. Though if you wish to learn how I made Vanquisher, I can show you how to use the forge and lathe. It could prove useful in your endeavors. When you live this long, you learn a great many things."

"Someone will have to help me polish up this new fighting style."

"I would recommend your father. I can fight unarmed, but he is a master of the craft of unarmed combat." Adler gestured to himself. "I you wish to become a swordswoman, though, in my far from humble opinion there is none better to teach you. My skills are not limited to longsword and katana. I have studied most at great depth. Again, this occurs when one has vast amounts of time at their disposal."

"What if I want to add revolver marksmanship to my skills? Can you help me build my own?"

“What caliber?”

Yang smirked, gesturing her head to Vanquisher. “I want a .460 Magnum. Just like my gramps.”

He smiled wide, his green eyes glinting. She could see how pleased he was she wished to emulate some part of his style of combat.

"Well then, I am most certainly your man. It would be a pleasure."

"When can I start training with you again, Master?"

"After the installation of your new right arm. Rest in the meantime, however. Your body will appreciate it. For us, unless someone kills us, there is always tomorrow. There is always more time to learn and grow. Now, enough talking. Get some rest. Hold Blake. The morning will come quicker than you think."

Adler stood and finished his whisky with one long sip. He set the glass down and looked at her.

"Is there anything else, Yang?"

Yang stood and took a few steps towards him. She held her arms open wide, Adler smiling and shaking his head. He sighed and opened his arms, apparently deciding to indulge his granddaughter with a hug.

She loosed a single, furious left hook across his jaw. The man's head wiped about to the right as blood and spit flew from his lips into the fireplace. He stumbled a step, but steadied himself quickly.

Adler slowly raised his hand to his mouth and rubbed the side of it. There was blood on the side of his hand as his mouth continued to bleed. She had split his bottom lip.

Yang sighed, her fingers throbbing. Hitting him in the jaw was like punching a solid rock. Thankfully, the pain could not find purchase against her.

"That feels better."

Adler looked her in the eyes and wiped his blood onto his pant leg. "I am surprised it took you this long to make good on your threats."

"I should go after you full on, but I'll call that one punch even." Yang held out her hand, palm open. “If you ever hit me again or put someone I care about in danger again I will fucking kick your ass you son of a bitch.”

Adler shook her hand and nodded. "I would never dream of doing any such thing again, but I give you my word nonetheless.”

Yang yanked him in and hugged him. “Good. Thanks for everything, Grandpa.”

He smiled faintly, hugging Yang back. “You are most welcome. Know that I love you dearly, Granddaughter.”

“I love you too, you old bastard.”

They parted, Adler smirking at Yang and the woman smiling back.

“Now then, return to your room and rest. Worry not of what is to come. The future is upon us all quicker than we think."


	18. Home Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone who cares to thank AllisonW. Eight of her comments later I decided 'Why not give them a chapter'. So here you go.

Black asphalt and a forest awash with gold, red, orange and yellow leaves passed around them quickly. Yang drove her yellow, black and orange gradient motorcycle along the two-lane road out from the small town on the coast of Southern Patch, her fluttering hair up in a black ribbon and her aviators shielding her eyes. The sun still hung low in the sky, her sunglasses gleaming from the light out of the cloudless, brilliant blue sky.

One of her tall brown leather motorcycle boots pushed down a bit more on the accelerator, the motorcycle picking up speed. Her legs hugged and guided the motorcycle in tight-fitting blue jeans, a brown leather belt holding them at the tops of her hips. Her left hand, clad in a fingerless black glove, worked in concert with the metallic right hand of her black and yellow accented cybernetic limb.

Yang's body had recovered thanks to two months of proper nutrition, water intake and rest. She was in excellent physical condition. Her form was both feminine and athletic, her skin bronze. A set of three faints scars were across her bare, muscular midriff.

Her upper body was clad in a well filled out, short-sleeved and tight-fitting yellow crop top bearing her symbol, a burning heart of defiance in black. Visible beneath the top were the lines of a balcony bra. An open, wool-lined and collared brown leather jacket with long sleeves shielded her arms from the chill of the wind as she drove on. A number of patches of various motorcycle part companies covered the jacket's sleeves, her symbol on the back in gold outlined in black thread.

Hanging off her right hip on a heavy brown leather bullet belt loaded with long .460 Magnum rounds was a holstered stainless steel revolver with a black polymer handle sticking out. Her boots were wrapped around the ankles with small yellow shin guards, her yellow bracelets on her wrists.

She looked out at the forest to her right as it flashed by, taking in the changing colors of the season. It felt good to be on this road again. It felt good to ride through the countryside of Southern Patch.

What felt best, however, was the company holding on tight to her.

Sitting behind Yang, her arms wrapped around the Human, was Blake. She had Yang's yellow helmet on, her black hair fluttering from beneath the back of the protective gear. Her legs, clad in tall black boots, were pulled in close to the motorcycle and her black upper body pressed into Yang’s back. Blake's long white coat fluttered behind her like a flag in the passing wind, Gambol Shroud over her right shoulder.

The Faunus looked out at the vibrant autumn foliage with amber eyes, taking it in as well.

The motorcycle glided around a corner and onto a stonework bridge passing over the river that separated Northern Patch from Southern. Up the hillside, in the distance, they could make out the lines of Signal Academy.

A Bullhead passed well overhead, its engines screaming faintly as it headed towards the school.

Yang smiled as the trees returned around the road, only now a little closer. They were heading far out from civilization. These forests had Grimm in them, even if their numbers were few and far between. Open travel on this road was forbidden unless the travelers were armed or under escort from authorities or Hunters.

She took a turn off the road, onto a wide dirt path. Dust kicked up from behind the motorcycle as it went out into the wilderness. They drove on, heading north and occasionally west, further and further out. The cavalcade of fall colors continued for fifteen minutes of driving until, almost in an instant, it gave way to blackened trunks and bare, sparse black branches above.

"Wow," Blake started, loud enough Yang could hear her over the engine and wind. "How much of the forest did they burn down?"

"A lot of it," Yang replied with a raised voice over the noise. "Dad and I made them pay."

"I know they did this to flush you out, but..." Blake squeezed Yang tighter. "This is terrible."

"It'll grow back," Yang assured. "It has already started to."

Even in the first autumn after the fire there were shrubs and grasses amongst the burned pillars of wood. Between the scorched trunks and amongst the fallen, blackened branches were tall saplings. New life was taking hold. The forest was renewing itself.

In two years, the fire would still be obvious. In ten years, the signs of the fire would be present if muted. Around twenty or twenty five, though, one would not be able to easily tell. There would be new trees and they would not be as tall, but this part of the forest would be awash in gold, red, orange and yellow once more.

Time would eventually heal the wound.

The dirt road grew narrower still, turning to a simple dirt path. They were getting close. Yang slowed the motorcycle down as it rounded a corner and began coming downward from the hills. In the distance she could see her destination through the black columns of burned out trees.

Home was in sight.

Her father had rebuilt the cottage. Yang knew Summer loved this place, so far out from civilization. She knew her father could never leave it behind. While everything was recovering from the fire slowly, the cottage looked exactly how Yang recalled it, if newly rebuilt with fresh wood and paint. Even the stones of the faintly smoking chimney had been replaced, the former likely badly scorched.

Many precious things were lost, but the two most important things made it out mostly unharmed.

They rolled in slowly, the motorcycle's engine growing quieter. Yang dropped the kickstand with a movement of her boot and leaned the motorcycle over, shutting off the engine.

Blake removed the helmet and shook out her mane. She handed Yang the yellow helmet and dismounted the back of the motorcycle. She pulled a black ribbon from her pocket, having long since consigned the one in Yang’s hair from her property to that of her partner’s.

The Faunus straightened out the ribbon and prepared her hair to put it on.

Yang got off her motorcycle and set her helmet on the seat. She removed the black bow turned ribbon from her own hair and tucking it away in a pocket on her brown coat. She shook out her blonde mane, not a single split end in sight. Yang had taken extra care of her precious, golden locks in the past months.

She watched the Faunus fuss with the bow. The Human would not chide her or question her motivations. Yang only ever wanted to change one thing about Blake and the Faunus was still with her after two months, never having left her side since they were reunited.

There was nothing else Yang could ask for.

Blake looked at Yang, her cat ears twitching, bow still in hand. "What?"

"Nothing."

The Faunus sighed, looking down at the bow. "I want to wear it very badly..."

"Go ahead."

Blake took a deep breath, looked Yang in the eyes and stuffed the bow in a pocket on her long white coat. "You are introducing me to your father for the first time. At some point, this is all going to come out. We might as well get it all out of the way up front."

"If you want to wear it Blake-"

"This is your father." Her lover shook her head. "Honesty is important here, Yang. I just hope he doesn't ask me too many stupid questions. Like, can I hear with both sets of ears or just one?"

"Well can you?!" Taiyang asked, walking out of the tree line dragging a scorched log hooked to a chain behind him.

Yang's eyes lit up like glittering amethysts, the woman turning in place and vaulting over the bike, running for the tree line. Though she could halt the rush with a mere thought, Yang had no desire to. Her heart raced and elation filled her being. She was a little girl again, barreling at her father on the path the cottage.

Only now it was she who was returning home.

Taiyang laughed and dropped the chain, tossing aside his woodcutting axe. He opened his arms wide and Yang jumped at him, landing in his embrace and in turn hugging him back as he kept her from putting her feet back on the ground and spun her around.

She had known he was still alive for two months, yet it did not dampen the emotion of seeing him alive and hearing his voice. She felt his heartbeat and Yang was certain her father felt his daughter's.

Tears came to Yang's eyes quickly and a lump rose in her throat as he set her feet back on the ground. She started to cry in earnest. Though she knew this moment was coming for weeks, it was still one of the best days of her life.

"Welcome home, Sweetie."

"Daddy! I missed you, Daddy!"

Blake smiled as a cool breeze blew through the clearing fluttering her coat and hair. She stood silent, watching father and daughter embrace for more than a minute. Taiyang said nothing and Yang merely sobbed softly into his shoulder. A bit of mist formed at the edges of the Faunus' amber eyes, the scene apparently reaching through her cool, somewhat jaded facade.

"I'm so happy you're safe, Daddy..."

"Me too, Sweetie. I'm so happy to see you again." Yang squeezed her father one more time. He smirked, his back popping in his daughter's embrace. Taiyang coughed a few times.

"Wow... you've gotten pretty strong."

They parted, Yang smiling wide at her father and motioning to the cottage. "You rebuilt it! I knew you would!"

He nodded. "I built this house once. It was easier the second time. Not so easy for a while there." Taiyang's left hand rubbed his right shoulder. "If I catch that guy in the street he's in for it."

Yang grinned wide, clenching her teeth. She hoped her father never crossed paths with Adam again. Her eyes flashed red and her hair caught a bit of golden glow, her willpower's guard down in the moment. "No offense old man, but that son of a bitch is **mine**."

A bit of flame left her lips with the last word.

Taiyang blinked twice, his blue eyes growing wide. "I see your training went very well."

She laughed a little, waving her hand in front of her mouth. "Sorry. Happens sometimes."

"No, that's fine, Sweetie. I’ve just never seen anything like that before." Her father smiled, his eyes returning to their normal size. "So, what was he like?"

"I think I understand why mom and Qrow are the way they are a lot better now." Yang closed her eyes, her hair cooling back to blonde. She opened her eyes again, her irises purple once more, getting her emotions ordered, but still allowing some of each through.

"I love him, but that old bastard is a real piece of work. Biggest son of a bitch I've ever met."

Taiyang laughed a little. "You sound more like your mother and uncle now, that's for sure."

"Ahem," Blake called out in a moderate tone, still smiling at them.

"This must be your partner in crime from Beacon," Taiyang started as he walked past Yang.

"Yes." Yang followed after her father and both walked up to Blake. Yang gestured to the Faunus. "Dad, this is Blake Belladonna. Blake, this is Dad."

Taiyang offered his hand, Blake shaking it and nodding in greeting.

"I have only ever heard stories and seen a few pictures."

"I guess that goes the same for me," Blake replied. She seemed a little nervous to Yang. The Faunus was quick to break eye contact with her father and look to her lover.

"Dad, I have something important to tell you," Yang started, deciding to get it out of the way up front.

He looked at her, waiting. She could see Taiyang was half-suspecting something, a faint glint in his blue eyes.

"I um..." Yang inhaled once and imposed her will, running off the nervousness. "Blake is not just my hunting partner and teammate. She is the woman I love."

Yang walked over to Blake and kissed the woman on her slowly reddening cheek. This was not how they discussed telling him, but once Yang quashed her emotions with the iron jackboot of her willpower, she simply spoke her mind.

She knew it was probably too direct, but how she felt about Blake was unquestionable. Might as well make that known right up front.

Blake laughed nervously, her porcelain face on its way to beet red, her cat ears folding backward. "Um... yeah, I uh... Yes. I am your daughter's girlfriend, Mister Xiao Long."

The Faunus offered her hand in greeting again, likely unsure what to do now.

Taiyang blinked twice, looking at Blake. His eyes narrowed and focused on her cat ears.

"Is that so? So you, of all people, are my little girl's special someone, hmm? I only have one thing to say to that, Blake Belladonna."

He placed both hands on Blake's shoulders, drawing a small jump from the woman. Taiyang pulled her in and gave her a hug. The Faunus was not quick to reciprocate. Yang nudged her girlfriend in the leg with the nose of her steel toed motorcycle boot and Blake wrapped her arms around Taiyang. She seemed to relax a little.

"It is wonderful to meet you, Blake. You seem like a very nice young lady and you are very pretty. I know she has become a very strong and self reliant woman, but I am happy Yang has someone that loves her."

Blake seemed speechless. She looked at Yang, the Human woman gesturing a hand to her father.

"Thank you, Mister Xiao Long."

"Please, call me Taiyang. Maybe one day you can call me Dad."

Yang felt a bit of nervous emotion jump in her chest at that sentiment, but her will quickly put most of it aside. Her cheeks reddened slightly, but she could see her father's words made Blake nervous too, her amber eyes searching Yang's for help.

"Come on Dad, you're making Blake uncomfortable."

Blake smirked a little, some of the red leaving her cheeks at the sight of the faint red in Yang's. The Faunus and her father parted.

Taiyang walked between them and put an arm around Blake and then another around Yang, pulling them in close. He rubbed their shoulders and smiled.

"You girls must be hungry from your drive up. It's a good hour out this far. Maybe forty-five minutes the way Yang drives, huh?"

Yang laughed a little, Blake smiling.

"You two are not the only guests I've had recently. We had some breakfast, but I can make more."

Yang and Blake looked at each other. She could see it in the Faunus' eyes and figured Blake could see it in her own. Was Ruby here?

"Come on, let's go inside." Taiyang removed his arms from them and headed for the door, both following after. He opened the wooden door, coated in a still very vibrant layer of blue paint. He entered his home, both young women following after and past him.

"I thought I heard a motorcycle," a familiar male voice came from the kitchen.

Both young women rounded the corner as Taiyang shut the front door. Qrow smiled at them, lifting a cup of coffee. Pinned to the kitchen wall behind him was a map of Remnant. It was covered in pins of green, blue, orange, white and red. A few photographs were also pinned to the large corkboard.

Evidently, Qrow had set up his base of operations here for the time being.

"Uncle Qrow," Yang started with a smile, a hint of excitement in her voice. She walked over to the man and hugged him, her uncle electing not to stand. He returned the gesture with his left arm, still holding his coffee with his right.

"Thank you for helping Dad."

"It was your mother's idea, kid. I would have taken him to a hospital, but there were a lot of White Fang in play that night." Qrow sighed, releasing Yang. "Raven figured home was the safer bet. I hadn't been back in ages until that night. Won't be going back anytime soon."

Yang took a step back. "You know I'm going to ask."

"Haven't seen her in weeks. Raven knows you came through the training with the old bastard and then some. I asked her if she wanted me to tell you anything last time we crossed paths." Qrow shook his head. "Sorry kid. I'm sure you know how she can be by now."

Taiyang grumbled as he washed his hands in the sink.

"I know you do," Qrow started with a chuckle, pointing at Taiyang. Yang's father merely nodded, still washing his hands and arms.

"Yeah, I know now too." Yang sighed, figuring her mother would never change. She gestured to Blake. "You remember my teammate, Blake?"

"Girlfriend now," Taiyang added, looking over his shoulder as she shut off the water and grabbed a towel.

"Hubba hubba." Qrow moved his red gaze to Blake and whistled a cat call. "Quite the catch, Firecracker."

His eyes narrowed, his index finger extending from his coffee cup and pointing at Yang and then Blake.

"There hasn't been any _unsupervised handholding_ , has there?"

Taiyang laughed as he dried his hands and arms.

Blake took a deep breath, seeming to shrink under Qrow's stare as she grew slightly red in the face again. She turned and walked around behind Yang towards an empty chair to her uncle's right.

The Faunus sighed. "Nice to see you again, too Qrow."

Her uncle looked back at her, his eyes widening and his smirk turning to a smile.

"Let me get a look at you, Kid. That's quite the tan."

He smacked the back of his hand into Yang's abdomen, admiring her abdominal definition. Indeed, his backhand had a bit of force behind it, but the light blow found no purchase.

"Nice muscles, Firecracker. Nice scars, too."

"I got a lot of those training with Adler."

"I bet you did. He took you out hunting Grimm unarmed, right?"

Yang lifted her left hand and wiggled her fully healed fingers. "I was more than adequately armed."

Qrow laughed, looking up at Yang. "So, what do you think of the old son of a bitch?"

"Like I told Dad, he's a real piece of work." Yang smiled. "Kind of took a liking to him, though. It's... well, it's just nice to have another link to my mother in my life. I have a lot of new things I have to come to grips with. If not for all the training with my new arm and weaponry these past weeks I'd probably still be sitting in a bathtub with the shower running staring at the wall contemplating my future."

"So you are going to be like him, huh?" Qrow gestured to the clock on the wall. "Playing the long, long game."

Yang nodded and looked at Blake, the slightest bit of dread pulling at the back of her mind as her heartbeat quickened, the faintest hint of venom’s burn in her blood. A headstone in the rain flashed in her mind. Her will clamped down, but not before a little sadness crept into her faintly widened purple gaze.

Blake seemed to sense it all. "It'll be okay, Yang." Blake smiled at her. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon and you know that."

Yang nodded, but swallowed dryly. Her will tucked the terrifying prospect of outliving everyone around her by many decades if not longer completely away.

Taiyang walked behind Blake and, as he passed, leaned down and kissed her on the top of her head. The Faunus jumped a little. Yang's father continued looking at Blake as he reached the refrigerator, the young woman looking to him.

"You were the one who saved Yang's life at Beacon, right?"

Blake broke eye contact with Taiyang. "I was just-"

"Yes," Yang affirmed without hesitation or reservation.

Taiyang opened the refrigerator door. "She looks a little like a young Raven, doesn't she?"

Qrow nodded, looking at his former teammate. "I think that's why Yang likes her. She looks just like her mom, but Blake here is better at showing her affection."

The Faunus blinked, her face growing red once more and her cat ears twitching. "I'm right here you two."

"There is also that," Qrow sniped with a faint smile.

"Quit poking at her," Yang stated flatly as she glanced at her uncle with slightly narrowed eyes. She pulled out the chair across from Blake and to Qrow's left.

Qrow sipped his coffee, looking at his niece's vaguely threatening gaze and then at the Faunus' red cheeks. "Oh yeah, lots of handholding."

Blake sighed, putting her now very narrowed yellow eyes onto Yang's only somewhat narrowed purple. "Is this what it's like to have a family?"

Yang nodded. "Yup, they don't shut up and are nosy as hell. They have opinions and you are going to hear them. Like it or not."

"The next time I see Ren and Nora, I will tell them how lucky we all were to be orphans."

Yang smiled and Qrow laughed. She watched her father set a carton of eggs and a butter holder near the stove. He glanced at her, opened a cupboard and pulled out two white coffee mugs. Taiyang placed one before Blake and the other in front of Yang.

"How long have you girls been traveling?"

"A few days," Yang answered, looking to her father. "We caught a commercial airship flight from Vacuo to Vale. I got back my motorcycle from storage, got it running again and we drove to Ferry Point. We stayed the night there on the waterfront at the fortified inn and then crossed to Patch at dawn."

Taiyang set a potholder on the table and placed the a pot of coffee on it. There were still five cups worth in the large, eight cup pot.

"How was the trip?"

"Tiring," Blake sighed, looking up at Taiyang as he brought over creamer and sugar. "Do you have tea bags by any chance Mr.-"

"Taiyang," he replied, pointing at her and smiling. "And yes, I do. I will put some water on."

Blake smirked back. "Thanks. I don't mean to-"

"Don't worry about it. So, how was your stay at the fortified inn?" Taiyang asked, going to a pantry and pulling out a small sealed jar of tea bags. He placed them before Blake and smiled at her.

"Romantic?" Qrow started, grinning at Yang and leaning close to her, nudging her in her cybernetic arm with his elbow. "That's a favorite place for young couples from Patch to go and get better acquainted. Lots of honeymooners, too."

Blake covered her face and sighed, Yang looking her uncle in the eyes. Qrow picked up the coffee pot and filled his mug. He set the pot back on the holder and pulled a flask from his vest, popped off the cap and poured a little brown liquor into his mug.

"You know Uncle Qrow," Yang started, not breaking eye contact with her grinning uncle, "the old bastard did ask me to tell you something. He said it was super important and that you needed to know as soon as I saw you."

"What?" He did not seem to care in the least as he replaced his flask.

Yang narrowed her violet eyes until her vision began to blur, kept her mouth closed and frowned ever so slightly. She slowly shook her head in silent disapproval.

Qrow blinked twice, cleared his throat and set the coffee cup down. He broke eye contact and shook his head, his hand clenching into a fist as he looked out over the table at the window and the clear blue sky beyond. His red eyes narrowed, his nose wrinkling as his left eye twitched.

"That son of a bitch."

Yang fought back laughter as her eyes widened and lit up. She looked at Blake, her girlfriend removing her hand from her face and smiling smugly at Qrow. Taiyang chuckled as he went to the sink with a kettle, the water sounding again as he filled it.

"That was a joke, right?" Qrow started again, a little agitation in his voice. He pointed at Yang, his eyes growing wide. "Right?"

"No," Blake started. "He literally told her to do that. That was his message to you. He warned us you would act immature about our relationship because you can't maintain one with a woman yourself. His words, not mine."

Yang gave in to laughter, smacking her fist into the table and shaking everything on it, the coffee sloshing around in the pot. She had to be mindful. She could break it with a single blow. Yang smiled wide at Qrow.

"We had dinner on a balcony overlooking the sea. Candles and everything. The moon reflecting off the water was very beautiful."

"It was," Blake sighed faintly, smirking at Yang.

"Very romantic," Yang finally answered, winking at the Faunus and putting a bit of the red back into her pale complexion. "Adler says I inherited his charm.”

“And mine,” Taiyang added, pointing at his daughter and smiling.

“And your’s,” Yang affirmed with a nod before looking back at her uncle. “So, you know, if you want some pointers Uncle Qrow..."

Blake's yellow eyes went wide and her face bright red, yet she started laughing in spite of her embarrassment. Taiyang laughed for a moment as well, but cleared his throat, stopping as he shook his head and set about making breakfast.

"Never mind," Qrow sighed, picking up his coffee cup. He took a drink and set the mug down. "Now I just see his face in my mind and hear his voice echoing in my ears. That bastard can ruin a perfectly good day halfway across the damn continent."

"Serves you right," Blake shot with a smirk, the red leaving her face.

"It does," Taiyang added, putting the kettle on the stove top and going back to his eggs.

"Yeah yeah." Qrow looked at the Faunus. "You don't want to do this with me, Blake. I've got a hundred cat lines."

Blake narrowed her eyes at him, her cool demeanor returning almost instantly as the red washed out of her complexion.

"Yang all ready asked her father if she could keep me. She simply has to keep me fed and watered. I've had all my shots. Yang still needs Taiyang's permission for me to sleep in her bed with her at night, though."

Qrow cleared his throat, Yang grinning at Blake and her lover smiling back, a bit of blush still in the Faunus' cheeks at her own boldness.

Yang remembered Adler specifically telling Blake to not let Qrow ‘give her any shit’. She remembered Blake telling Adler she ‘would not let anyone give her shit’.

The Faunus looked back at Yang's uncle with a smug look. "Now let's hear the cat lines."

Uncle Qrow took a deep breathe, Taiyang glancing over his shoulder as he added some bacon to the pan in front of him, the meat sizzling slightly. Yang's father grinned, apparently finding his former teammate's lack of a quick comeback amusing.

Qrow sipped his coffee and set the mug back down. He nodded once and looked at Yang, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

"She doesn't take shit from anyone. I like her alot, kid." Qrow looked back at Blake. "I really like you a lot. I'm still going to give you shit, though. It's how I show love. I'm the inappropriate uncle and it's in the job description to be very inappropriate."

Qrow pointed at Blake with his index finger, coffee mug in hand and his expression serious.

"So, you are housebroken, right?"

Blake grinned at him, her cat ears twitching. "So, tell me about what it's like to be a high-functioning alcoholic?"

"Thick skin and a cutting wit." Uncle Qrow closed his mouth, his lips in a faint pout as he nodded. He lifted his mug and motioned it towards Blake. "Blake here is a real winner. Best in show, right?"

The Faunus narrowed her eyes as she pulled a tea bag from the jar and set it in her mug, awaiting the water. "You got the most disappointing son ribbon every year of the competition, right?"

Yang whistled, deciding not to get involved in the battle of wits that was about to break out. Blake could take care of herself and Uncle Qrow was Uncle Qrow. They continued bantering, the young woman looking to her father.

Taiyang looked over at the table, the sound of sizzling bacon in the pan on the stove top before him becoming audible. Another pan was next to that one. He picked up an egg and cracked it on the side of the second black pan before opening the shell with a single motion of his hand and pouring the egg yolk and white in.

Her father grabbed another egg as the one in the pan sizzled, Blake and Qrow continuing to take jabs at one-another. Taiyang seemed to have something on his mind and, after nearly a minute of silent glances at Yang and verbal warfare, he seemed to come to the words.

"I was not expecting you two. What brings you home, Yang?"

"I just wanted to see that my Dad was okay with my own two eyes." Yang raised both her hands, flexing her cybernetic right. "I wanted to hug him with both arms."

"Speaking of which, that's a nice cybernetic Yang." Taiyang smiled, pointing his spatula at it. "Atlesian combat model? A Mark Three-Alpha?"

"X-Five."

Taiyang blinked. He glanced at his stovetop and looked back at Yang. "That's an experimental model? I know I got a package from Atlas addressed to you, but that couldn't have been in it. Who could-"

"It came courtesy of Weiss Schnee."

"Oh." Her father smirked faintly. "Well, that explains it then. You need to thank that girl the next time you see her or write a very nicely worded letter, Yang."

"I intend on picking her up off the ground I'm going to hug her so hard. Check this out."

Yang lifted her right arm and balled the hand into a fist. She smiled wide as she looked at her father, a half-meter blade of black metal deploying from between the middle and ring finger knuckles in a flash and sound of faintly sliding steel. The sword glinted in the sunlight from the window.

Blake's eyes narrowed and she gestured to the sword with her hand. "Sure, just whip it out at the table Yang."

Qrow nearly spat out his coffee, his eyes lighting up. He and Taiyang laughed as Yang smirked at Blake.

Taiyang's took the weapon in from where he stood. "I knew you would install a weapon in a combat cybernetic if you ever got one Sweetie, but I was not expecting that."

Uncle Qrow wiped a bit of coffee from his lips with a napkin and looked over the sword. His red eyes grew wide as he leaned in. There was golden writing on the blade in plain language. His lips parted, his hand setting down the half-full mug of coffee it was holding.

"In the face of fear, despair, defeat and cruelest fate always keep fighting and survive." Qrow looked Yang in the eyes, finding his niece's gaze hardened violet. "That sounds a lot like another inscription on a sword I know. What's this one called?"

"Eternal Survivor."

"You've been hanging around with the old bastard too much." Qrow gestured towards Yang's holstered revolver. "You carrying an old fashion shooting iron around now, too?"

Yang clenched her hand and the blade returned within her arm with another sharp sing of steel. She reached to her right hip with her cybernetic arm, unclasped the brown leather strap keeping her revolver held within the holster and pulled the weapon free. She lifted the firearm, pulled free the cylinder and held the weapon over the table. Yang pushed down on the ejector rod and dropped the rounds within onto the table.

Blake reached out and stopped one of the large, long rounds from rolling off her side of the table. Taiyang came up alongside her holding a piping kettle, pouring in hot water until Blake gestured him to cease.

"Thank you, Taiyang."

"See, getting used to it all ready. Pretty soon you'll be calling me Dad." Yang's father went back to his cooking as Blake blushed yet again. Yang's father loaded the toaster fully with four pieces of bread.

"I made this myself with a few pointers from the old man." Yang pushed the cylinder back into the revolver's frame, flipped it around and offered it handle first to Qrow. "Her name is Furiosa."

"Now that's a Yang name." Qrow took the stainless steel revolver by the black rubber grip and began inspecting it. 'Furiosa' was engraved into the compartment along the top of the weapon and inlaid with gold. The frame read '.460 Magnum' inlaid with gold and the edges of the cylinder were also accented with golden lines.

It looked like a showpiece, but Yang had tested the weapon repeatedly. It was completely functional, if slightly ostentatious. It was a fitting weapon for a dragon, her grandfather assured.

"This thing is a monster." Qrow hefted the weapon in his hand, the barrel 19 centimeters long and weighed. "I see you put the barrel on the bottom. Better recoil control, right?"

Yang nodded.

"So then the part above the barrel is a counterweight?"

She shook her head, tapping the small lens on the front of the weapon above the crown of the barrel. "Nope. It's a sensor package that feeds to the holographic projector on top. I made that too with Blake's help. My fighting style lacks range and my shotguns can't get shells out fast enough or far enough to take down fast moving enemies that keep out of my reach."

"So now you can just put a big hole in them." Qrow moved the revolver around in hand, seeming to get a feel for the weapon. "Not like his, but I can see his influence all over this thing."

He looked at Yang, deftly flipping the weapon about and offering her the handle.

"Looks fancy, but everything is right where it should be. Nice work, Firecracker."

Taiyang turned off the burners of the stove and opened another cabinet, pulling out two plates and setting them on the counter. He gestured his head towards the table.

"You got back the other half of Ember Celica. When did you manage that?"

"The old man got it back for me." Yang smiled as she reloaded her revolver. She replaced Furiosa within the holster at her side, buttoned it shut and looked at Blake.

"He gave me a lot of things. I'm not sure I deserved all of it."

Blake smiled warmly, reaching across the table and squeezing Yang's left hand. "You deserve all it and more, Yang. Don't tell yourself otherwise."

"I know. I know."

"There is something Yang needs to ask you, Taiyang."

Her father picked up a pan and began plating the food. First the eggs, two each plate. He looked over his shoulder at his daughter. "Ask me what, Yang?"

Qrow whistled a cat call.

"Oh, grow up you man-child," Blake chided as she pulled her hand back, her cat ears folding back as she glared at the man.

Yang pushed out the chair and stood, walking around the table and standing between it and the sink. She raised her arms and pulled them down, but also flexed her feet and ankles slightly. Her gauntlets deployed as well as a pair of identically designed greaves stretching up to just under her knee.

Like the gauntlets, the greaves were yellow. Like the gauntlets, the greaves sported shotgun barrels, both facing down along the outside of Yang's legs. Red Dust Shells were loaded into the greaves along the back of her legs within a similar mechanism to the gauntlets.

Taiyang slowly plated two slices of bacon on one plate and then two more on the other. He set the pan down as well as his spatula and walked up to Yang. He went around her slowly, taking in the greaves, seeming to inspect them.

"I saw the guards on your boots, but I had no idea. Those look like they took some work, Sweetie. They look just as good as your gauntlets." He stopped in front of Yang, looking his daughter in the eyes. "Ember Celica is a four piece now, hmm?"

Yang shook her head.

"Ember Celica was just the gauntlets. They were good, but not good enough. Not complete. They were the weapons of a little girl who had no idea what the real world was like." She lifted her arms before her and shook them, widening her stance a bit to bring emphasis to her greaves as well. "I am a Huntress now. I needed a better weapon. One that was complete."

Taiyang seemed to stand up straight, his blue eyes locking on Yang's intense purple.

"This is Inferno Celica."

Taiyang stepped back, taking Yang in head to toe. She was more muscular now, though as feminine as when he last saw her. Her hair and body had recovered, Yang's bust back to its old, large and full self. The black and yellow metallic arm, while standing out, returned symmetry to her form.

The revolver on her hip and the blade hidden within her cybernetic, as well as the bronze skin and scars, however, made Yang look different now. So did the expression in her eyes. The innocence was gone.

She was stronger now. Much, much stronger. Mentally and physically.

Taiyang’s daughter stood before him a full fledged Huntress. She had realized her goal.

There was no doubt Yang had grown in their time apart. There was no denying Yang had become a hardened survivor. She had been battered, blooded, bled, abused, and emotionally broken and then built back up into something far more than she was before.

Qrow knew the full extent, Yang was completely certain. Blake did as well, having trained alongside her for the past two months with Adler in the fields near his manor. Yang finally let her true nature through her will before her father, her shadow shifting in the morning light through the window.

It grew large and inhuman, covering the wall.

Taiyang look at the far wall, Qrow blinking once, now covered in his niece's winged, draconic shadow. Her uncle shrugged, lifted his mug and took a sip of coffee. He had seen such a thing before.

Her father was far less blasé, his blue eyes growing wide, his body shaking faintly as, Yang suspected, Taiyang came to fully understand what Yang had accomplished. He slowly looked back into his daughter's eyes, finding them still intense.

"Yang, you have come very far." His voice was nearly a whisper. "Farther than I could have ever taken you. Qrow came here two weeks ago because he wanted me to know what to expect when I finally saw you again."

Qrow nodded.

"I won't lie to you anymore, Sweetie. I always knew about your Semblance. Your uncle and mother did as well. I never wanted you to meet that man. I did not want this for you. I'm not even completely sure what's happened to you, but I can tell you will be okay now. I have never seen you so strong and confident."

Tears came to Taiyang's eyes, the man covering his mouth. Yang smiled at him faintly, her purple eyes softening and misting as well once her will allowed the happiness through.

She was getting better at it. The emotions filtered faster than even a month ago.

"You're not my little girl anymore, are you?" Taiyang almost choked on the sentiment.

He looked at Blake, the Faunus smiling at him.

"You're a woman now. You have someone special now and it's obvious your grandfather made you into something more than just a Huntress. You came through all of it and have gone beyond anything I could have imagined for you."

"You are right about a lot of things, Dad. You are wrong about one, though."

Yang hugged him again, just as fiercely as earlier in the morning. More so. Taiyang hugged her back.

"I'm still your little girl. I'll always be your little girl. I love you, Daddy."

"I love you, Yang." Taiyang almost choked on the words through a sob. "I love you."

Qrow set down his mug and started clapping. Blake leered over at him, smirked and joined him in applause.

"You want me to kick their asses, Daddy?"

"No Sweetie, I just rebuilt the place."

Father and daughter parted as the toast sprung out of the toaster, hot and ready. Taiyang sniffed once, seemed to regain his composure and walked over to the counter. He began plucking toast from the toaster and buttering it..

"So," Taiyang started, his voice normalizing, "how long will you two be staying here?"

Yang rubbed the tears from her cheeks with her sleeve. She contracted Inferno Celica and headed for her seat, stowing her emotions as well, if in an entirely different and inhuman manner.

"Long enough."

Taiyang walked to the table and set down plates of two eggs, two slices of bacon and two pieces of toast before Blake and his daughter as she sat. He glanced at Blake, the Faunus smiling at him. She took a sip of her tea and nodded, everything apparently satisfactory to his guest.

"Long enough for?" Taiyang asked, taking his seat at the head of the table.

"For you to finish my training."

Her father blinked, his expression a mixture of surprise and happiness. "What do you mean? Your grandfather-"

"Taught me to build and shoot a revolver and to use a sword. Taught me how to track Grimm and stay alive in the desert. To always get back up, keep fighting and survive. He made my will invincible, brought out the highest expression of my Semblance, built my Aura and control and gave me the shadow of a dragon."

Yang gestured to the wall, a flourish of will returning her shadow to that of a young woman.

"He did not teach me how to fight any better in hand to hand." She pointed at her father and smiled faintly. "You did. The defensive style you were teaching me..."

"But you have all these weapons and both arms again..." her father replied, smiling at Yang’ wealth of weaponry and power.

"Daddy, why do you think I built the greaves? I can brawl with the best of them. I want to learn how to defend just as well." Yang smirked. "Just because I have all these scars, can choose to not feel pain, and my Semblance is fueled by it doesn't mean I _want_ to get hit."

"She's nearly immortal, not nearly invincible," Blake added with a smile.

Yang glanced at her lover out of the corners of her eyes, the Faunus lifting a piece of bacon to her mouth. If not for her will, that would have cut deeper than it did.

"What? It's true."

"You don't like the scars, huh?' Qrow chided.

Blake looked him in the eyes. " _I love them_."

Taiyang's eyes went slightly wide and even Yang felt the tug of embarrassment. The Faunus smirked and went back to her meal, a faint red once more in her cheeks. Qrow glared at her in faint shock.

"I'm just not eager to see them multiply too quickly."

"Same here." Yang looked back to Taiyang. "What do you say, old man? I was starting to get the hang of it. I bet I don't lose my temper so quickly this time, either."

"I bet you won't," Taiyang affirmed with a nod, rubbing his jaw with a knowing wink. "Alright then, Sweetie. We start training in the morning. Up with the sun and at it until about four. I've got a plenty I can teach you about unarmed combat."

Her father smiled wide, gesturing to himself with an outstretched thumb.

"You can brawl with the best Yang, but I **am** the best."

Qrow laughed. "Now there's the trash talking piece of work I remember from back in the days of Team STRQ."

"Thanks Daddy." Yang picked up her fork and knife, looking at her breakfast. "I won't let you down."

"You never did."

Yang smiled, her heart warming. It was good to hear him say that.

Taiyang picked up the pot of coffee and refreshed his mug sitting before him.

"Also, one more thing. If you want, you two can move the other bed into your room, Yang." He smirked at his daughter. "Go ahead and push them together, too."

Blake turned slightly red as she looked up from her food to Yang, Qrow whistling again.

Yang set about cutting her eggs. She looked Blake in the eyes and smiled, lifting her fork in her left hand, a piece of egg on it. She had grown adept at using her left hand and still slightly favored it over her returned right.

"I guess you can sleep in my bed, kitten."

Blake sighed, rolling her eyes. "I guess so. I don't know if I will _want_ to, though."

"Don't be so catty."

The Faunus narrowed her amber eyes on Yang, but smiled faintly. "You like it when I'm catty."

Yang gave Blake a huge grin. "Hell yeah I do."

Taiyang and Qrow stared at each other across the length of the table.

"Well," Taiyang started, "I'm not the only one who noticed how quickly she got used to having family, right?"

Qrow nodded as his red eyes looked out of one corner at Blake and then the other at Yang as the two women had breakfast. "Oh yeah, the shame ran out on kitty cat here real quick. There was **massive** amounts of unsupervised handholding at the old man’s manor."

Taiyang glanced at his daughter and smirked. "You think? She is my daughter after all. I did a lot of ‘handholding’ at their age."

Yang smiled at her father, Taiyang winking back as Blake calmly sipped some tea.

Qrow sighed. "Yeah, you fucked my sister. Way to rub in something that happened over eighteen years ago."

Badgering, stories and laughter filled the kitchen until it was time for lunch. It was different now, very much so, but it felt indescribably good to be home again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thank you all of my commenters. AO3 can give me numbers all day, but it is your engagement that I look forward to the most.


	19. She's in My Dreams

The sun shined down bright through the pillars of charred wood, around them the occasional sapling and small shrub. The impact of wood upon metal sounded throughout the burnt trunks as Taiyang vigorously pursued his daughter through the woods. Twigs and branches in the grasses broke under their boots as they danced around one another.

Yang maintained her defensive posture, Inferno Celica deployed, but unloaded. Her hands moved before her in concert with her footwork as her father launched volley after volley of swipes, thrusts and strikes with his staff.

Each attack fell upon her shielded forearms or calves.

Taiyang's hand and footwork were lightning quick, his wooden training staff moving like a brown blur as Yang attempted to keep track of it. Her eyes followed it frantically as it came at her faster and faster. Her handwork was barely keeping the pace, her footwork only just enough to carry her away from her father and occasionally come up into a block. She had to maintain a certain range or he would get inside of her guard and land a strike.

Her speed had improved, but Yang still felt she had a long way to go. The wooden staff whistled as it moved swiftly through the air, Taiyang whirling it around himself and using the leverage and length of the weapon to keep his daughter guessing.

This was far different from how they trained before.

Back then, he was still teaching her the basics of defense for the new stance and style Yang was learning. Now, he was testing her limits. Pushing her. Yang could tell her father was searching for shortcomings, weaknesses and bad habits. They were proving rarer and rarer each day, but still he found them.

Taiyang moved his staff quickly, stepping into Yang's guard unexpectedly and launched a flurry of blows. Eleven fell upon Inferno Celica.

One fell upon her upper right arm in a stinging blow that would leave a bruise.

Yang stopped moving around and pulled back into a ready stance, her arms out before her chest and held downward almost parallel to her body. Her chest rose and fell with each breathe, sweat soaking into her yellow t-shirt bearing her symbol in black and her black track pants with orange stripe down each leg.

Her brown boots were stained faintly green with grass and heavily with the black ash of charred tree limbs that had broken underfoot. If not for the trophy ribbon keeping her hair tied high and back, Yang would have had to contend with her mane sticking to her neck and face.

Their first day, when he struck her hard enough to bruise and draw a wince, Taiyang apologized profusely. Yang told him, point blank, not to. Pain was nothing to her now. She needed to learn and her father's wise response 'better a bruise from a staff then another limb lost to a blade' could not have rung more true to Yang.

That was the only apology her father had given her in their training. It would suffice for every blow that would land upon Yang. What she was learning was invaluable.

Since that first hard blow across her back, they had only pushed harder each session since. They had already been at this for three hours. This was the third week of constant training.

She watched her father step back and point at her upper right arm with his staff, his shirt sweat stained around the neck, on the back and under his arms. His breathing seemed labored as well.

"You are still keeping that arm too far out. I know you have learned to keep your right at the ready to launch a counter punch, but you cannot sacrifice any protection for the possibility of an attack. Keep your right, as your left, back. Remember, no opponent is perfect. Eventually, they will present you with an opportunity to attack from even total defense."

"Yes Father."

Taiyang smirked, seeming to sense Yang was fully imposing her will upon her emotions and body. It took him even less time than Blake to realize when she was doing so. The man ran the side of his arm across his sweat slicked forehead and nodded.

"Ready up!"

He reset into his staff stance, both of his hands on the two meter length of sturdy wood. Yang adopted the defensive stance once more, this time keeping her right arm reeled in slightly closer.

Taiyang nodded once and went on the attack again. The sound of wood upon metal started anew in the forest as father and daughter resumed training.

Each day from dawn until around four in the evening, with only an hour break for lunch at high noon, Taiyang trained his daughter.

Uncle Qrow had since moved on two weeks earlier, having business on the other side of Remnant to attend to. With him he took a letter from Yang and Blake to Ruby and her travel companions. For her part, Blake had taken the opportunity to train as well, though she did so alone further out in the forest.

Yang maintained her distance and guard, her father constantly on the attack. Each round went on for many minutes. Taiyang always started at a moderate intensity, but as every round wore on his attacks grew more varied, clever and came in faster.

She felt a bit of frustration that she was not allowed to do more than defend, but Yang kept it and everything else she was feeling at bay. She was concentrating on the lessons of her father. Taking each critique and recommendation to heart. Every night, before she would go to sleep, Yang would meditate for ninety minutes on the day's training.

The round went on, Taiyang's speed increasing to a high degree, the staff once more whistling between blows upon metal. Yang managed to evade or block every blow, but her defense was becoming more and more strung out.

If she had shells in her greaves she could leap back very far and get some breathing room, but her father insisted she not incorporate any shortcuts into the style. Using recoil to evade or attack was a shortcut.

Taiyang wanted her technique to be pure. Yang agreed, accepting his wisdom. As intense as her training with her father had been, it was a far cry from the punishing marches and sparring matches in the sand with Adler.

After nearly four minutes of solid defense, Taiyang got alongside Yang and managed to strike her on the thigh. Pain went up and down the limb and Yang blocked it out.

Again they separated, both breathing hard and dripping with sweat.

Yang took her ready stance, covered in the signs of hard labor, but not so much as bowing or buckling under the weight of weariness. She stared at her father intently, awaiting his comment or suggestion.

"Maintain circular motion. I know your guard is strained at these speeds, but you must maintain circular motion. It's like dancing. Just keep dancing around me; back and away into a circle."

"Yes Father."

Yang nodded, Taiyang readying his weapon again. Her father nodded and once more they set about their training.

A cool autumn wind blew through the forest, rustling the shrubs, saplings and tall grasses as father and daughter continued sparring. She had asked not long after coming home if he had yet returned to his duties as a teacher at Signal. Taiyang was still officially on a leave of absence, though he had recovered physically.

She suspected his peers were, once more, questioning the man's mental toughness. He had his home burned down, his daughter taken from him and was nearly killed. Yang had been meaning to ask when he would return, but it seemed she was once more the focus of his teaching.

As far as unarmed combat training was concerned, Yang was very fortunate her father had so much time on his hands now. To Yang's mind, her father was one of the very best still able to pass on his teachings in such a hands-on fashion.

The round lasted longer than the last, Yang heeding every last scrap of advice her father had imparted for the past weeks. She felt herself slipping into 'the zone' faster and faster each day. While her limbs moved like yellow blurs and her body swayed and bent as she kept her father's staff at bay, Yang's mind was a fortress of collected solitude.

Her will kept everything extraneous out. As Adler promised, it was as if her mind was the eye of a storm. Even in this state of total concentration and heightened awareness, her father's staff only seemed to slow marginally.

Still, it was enough to keep him at bay for nearly six minutes.

Finally, in a master's flourish, Taiyang managed to reach his blur of a staff over Yang's impressive guard in a small circling strike over her rising hand.

The blow struck her in the jaw and whipped her head over, blood and spit flying her mouth. Yang spun down into a crouch and sprang back up to her feet. Her head swam as her father moved his staff aside and reached out to her, paternal concern filling his widened blue eyes.

Yang lifted her metallic right hand in a halt motion. Her will did not yield even to a resounding blow to the head. She stood perfectly straight, took the ready stance once again and awaited her father's critique.

Taiyang walked up to Yang in spite of her silent command to pay no heed. His worn and calloused hand fell upon her cheek and the edge of her mouth softly. He cleaned a little blood from the side of her mouth and looked her in the eyes.

"Are you okay, Sweetie?"

Yang nodded once, her intensity absolute. She felt the tug of pain in her jaw and teeth as a small cut inside her mouth bled, but it was all kept at bay with ease. Even though dizziness was present in her mind, her willpower maintained complete physical and mental control, keeping her thoughts orderly in the face of internal chaos.

He looked at the blood on his hand and sighed. Her father raised his blue gaze back into purple and smiled faintly. The man nodded, apparently accepting his daughter was made of far, far sterner stuff than any student he had previously.

"I can't think of anything to say."

She blinked and tilted her head. He always had something to say when he got a blow through.

"If you knew some counters, I don't think it would have gone this long."

Yang kept the happiness of such a compliment at bay as well. Overconfidence had been her undoing more than once. She set back into the stance, prepared to continue.

Taiyang raised a finger, leaning on his staff a little. He coughed a few times.

"Not as young as I once was. I used to do this all day with your mother, but now..." He inhaled and let out a long, hot exhale. "I still can't get over how long you can keep this up without needing a break."

She relaxed her willpower a little, feeling the aching in her muscles and the faint burn of lactic acid as well as the nibble of venom in her blood. The pain in her mouth was dull and strong, but it would pass like all the rest.

Yang smiled at her father, the man smirking back, obviously realizing she was letting a bit of her guard down within.

"You need some water and a breather, Sweetie?"

"No, but I want some water and five minutes to sit."

"Let's make it ten," Taiyang laughed, slowly bending at the knees. He folded his legs beneath him and laid his staff down as he sat.

Yang walked over to a wrought iron table they had taken into the forest to hold training aids as well as a cooler filled with ice and water. She grabbed two of the cups, one labeled 'T' and the other 'Y', and left the third labeled 'B'. Yang filled both cups up and walked back to her father.

She slid down onto her folded legs like a practiced monk, not needing her arms to support herself on the way down and not spilling a drop of water. She had gotten a lot of practice assuming her meditation pose. Yang offered Taiyang his cup, her father accepting it.

The man took a long drink as Yang indulged her body with a smooth, measured sip of one-fifth the cup's contents. The ice cold water was refreshing if slightly uncomfortable to the wound in her cheek. She made sure no blood slid back into the cup out of reflex. That was also something that could draw a punishment from Adler.

Even after all the plenty she had enjoyed for the past two months, Yang still very much maintained her enjoyment of water from her time in the desert.

Taiyang finished half his cup in one gulp and lowered it, exhaling loudly. He looked at Yang and smiled wide.

"I still can't get over how you don't drink it all in one go anymore."

Yang smiled back. "Force of habit I guess. I keep expecting him to come out of nowhere and slap the cup away."

"Well, now you are training with me again, Sweetie. Drink as much as you like."

She lifted the cup to her lips and took another measured drink, taking almost exactly another fifth. Training with her father again was a joy. One Yang always let through during their little breaks. It was almost like she was being spoiled, but this was a very different kind of training.

There was no need for deprivation here.

Yang still felt strong. She was perfectly healthy. Three meals a day, laughter with her father and Blake and a nice, warm bed to share with her partner at night kept her morale high. At some points, in quiet moments during meditation or just before falling asleep, Yang almost felt guilty for all the luxury she was enjoying.

However, that feeling never lasted long. She knew she was learning. Yang knew she was improving a little each and every day. The rounds used to last only a minute to ninety seconds at best. Now they were getting close to five minutes each on average.

He father was having to pull out most of the stops to land a blow. The last move he used to land a strike was new to her. She wondered how he was able to keep at this pace for as long as he was. Taiyang did not have the benefit of an 'off' button on his exhaustion and pain.

"Daddy?"

Taiyang lowered his cup from his lips, most of his water gone. "Yes Sweetie?"

"I'm not... um, I'm not working you too hard, am I? I'm not asking too much?"

Her father inhaled slowly and seemed to hold the breathe as he looked into Yang's eyes. He exhaled and laughed faintly, grinning wide with white teeth.

"Oh, I knew this day was coming."

Yang blinked.

"You're surpassing me."

It almost sounded unbelievable to Yang, and yet she did not offer her father any contention. She could see it in his demeanor. He was tired from all the training, but she could will it all away and just keep at it. He was the one asking for breaks, not her.

That old fear of being youthful and alone crept back into Yang's mind. This time, she was not so quick to push it aside. She smiled sheepishly at her father, feeling the man deserved a clearer window into her emotional state than any save Blake.

"Daddy, I still got a long way to go."

"Maybe, but I will see you to it. I don't mind."

Taiyang reached out and placed his hand on Yang's shoulder. He shook her faintly.

"Come on, Sweetie! Cheer up! One day, many years from now, you are going to look back on these days of training and say 'Damn, that was when I finally got better than the old man at his own game'."

"Dad, you've still got a lot of-"

"I know! Believe me Yang, I still have plenty to teach you and I intend to live to be old, gray and a massive pain in your behind." Taiyang laughed again, smiling wide as his blue eyes sparkled. "I'm happy about this! I'm getting to see my little girl take some big steps. You are coming up on my skill level fast."

"I'm still getting hit a lot."

"Yang, it is taking almost everything I got to get a strike past your guard. You've still got a few kinks and quirks from your brawling style to separate from this counter-based style we're working on, but I'm seeing progress."

Taiyang looked away, lifting his cup and finishing his water. Yang glanced at her own. Her body could use more water and even borderline needed it, but she did not want to drink anymore.

She felt fine. She could get more water later anyways. Lunch was only an hour away.

"You know, when I woke up and you were gone, I panicked." Her father's tone had changed; he sounded somewhat somber. "I was in some hospital bed and I could barely lift my right arm. I did not care about my body. I was worried about my little girl."

Yang lowered her gaze a little, staring at one of the bases of the burned out trees. She felt a bit of sadness come over her and gave it voice with a faint sigh and nod.

"I woke up in the middle of the night, knowing someone was in the room. I half expected it to be someone there to finish the job, but I remembered Qrow was right outside my door. That was probably the most sober few days he's had since our time at Academy. I think it was more surprising to me it was not an assassin, but your mother that stepped out of the shadows."

Taiyang laughed a little, smiling as he stared out at the slowly recovering forest. It was burnt tree trunks as far as they could see. A forest of black and grey dotted with orange and yellow shrubs and tall grasses.

"Raven went to check up on you?"

"Not so much to check up on me," Taiyang started, sighing. "She did kiss me on the cheek before she left, though."

Yang looked at her father, a bit of disbelief in her purple eyes.

He nodded at her, smirking. "Your old man still has it."

Taiyang laughed again as his daughter smiled at him. She was just happy to see him happy.

"You know, she hadn't kissed me in... well, probably since you were small. Anyways, she told me you were safe. She also told me the way we decided to raise you was not working. You had too much of me in you. Too headstrong. Too brave and bold. I had a bad temper when I was younger and you got that too.

Yang always knew at least some of those traits came from him. Perhaps it was genetic or maybe it was his influence on her as a child, but she knew she was like her father. The only other person she felt similar to in her family tree was Adler, but nearly so as to Taiyang.

"However, all of that was nothing next to the way the world was going. We... well, we did everything we could to keep these days from coming. Well, I don't know too much about what Raven is up to, but I know your Uncle’s still fighting. Summer... she gave everything."

"Dad..."

"Yang, Raven saw the writing on the wall. Remnant is getting ready to go to hell in a handbasket. I know every generation, when they reach adulthood, thinks the world is going to fall apart, but this... this feels like the real thing. All a father ever wants for his children is for them to be happy and safe. Sometimes, those two things end up at odds. Summer never wanted Ruby to become a Huntress, but nothing would make Ruby happier. I wasn't going to stand in her way. I want Ruby to be happy."

"And me?"

"Raven, as distant as she has been for the past years, asked me plainly if I wanted you to train with Adler. I had a good idea of what that meant, but I never knew the full extent. She was honest about how dangerous it was. She also told me she trusted her father with you. She told me something I did not know of until that night."

Yang looked at her father. He eyed his empty cup and she offered her own. Taiyang smiled at her and gestured it back. Yang motioned her hand in insistence. her father taking it and having a drink.

Taiyang lowered Yang's cup from his lips and looked her in the eyes. "Sweetie, your grandfather came to visit you just after you were born. I was on a mission with Qrow and Summer, worrying over your mother the whole time who, in retrospect, always could take care of herself. He held you for only a minute, looked in your mother's eyes and offered to train you to be a Huntress."

"He did?" Yang could barely believe it.

"She said he knew your Semblance the moment he held you. How, I don't know. He's had enough time training and fighting the old bastard can do a lot of strange things by now I'm sure."

"I believe it. Hell, I've seen it."

"Raven said she had never seen her father so excited about anything. He wanted to train you once you were old enough. She, however, had mixed feelings. On one hand, she was positive he could accomplish what he has." Taiyang gestured to Yang. "He did, so I can't argue with her maternal instincts. Raven did not want you to end up like him, though."

"He told me she wanted me to reach my full potential."

Taiyang nodded. "That's not a lie. Something changed in Raven, after you were born. We were already drifting apart and Summer and I... well, that doesn't matter. The point is, Raven was already halfway out of our lives when you were born. The last thing we discussed was what we wanted for you. I don't know why, though I think it was her experiences growing up, but she was adamant you be happy."

Yang felt a lump slowly rise in her throat at the thought of Raven caring that much. A bit of mist came to the edges of her eyes.

"She was?"

Her father nodded, grabbing her shoulder once again and shaking Yang gently.

"That was the only thing she wanted for you, Sweetie. Just to be happy. She wanted you to grow up with as normal a childhood as possible, considering what your parents did for a living. I don't know how she felt about Summer and I, but you having a little sister and a mom who would be there for you seemed to fit into her definition of you being happy."

"Adler said she left me in the situation she did deliberately. That she did not abandon me."

"He's right.”

Strong emotion tugged at Yang’s heart. She kept some of it at arm’s length.

“However, that night in the hospital, Raven asked me what I wanted for you. I was just hoping you were safe. I wanted you to be safe. If they were willing to come to where you lived and fight me to get at you..."

Taiyang clenched his teeth, a bit of anger in his expression.

"I told her you needed to be able to protect yourself so you could be safe. Then maybe, one day, you could be happy. Raven agreed without a single argument. She told me I took the words right out of her heart. She asked again and I agreed to you training with your grandfather. I just want you to know, if you ever want to blame Raven for everything you went through and for how long you are going to go through it, blame me too. She would not have given you over to him if I did not approve."

Yang sat silent for a moment, her mind almost unable to comprehend Raven even caring what Taiyang thought. She was under the impression Raven alone made that call. Yang rubbed the edge of her left eye with her left hand, a tear streaking down her right cheek.

"Why did she ask?" Her voice strained, more tears close at hand.

"Because she felt I stood more to lose than her. Summer and I raised you, Yang. You are Raven's daughter, but you are my little girl. As intense of a woman as she is, Raven did not feel like she had the right to make that kind of decision alone. We made that decision together as your parents, Yang. I know a lot of things about it were terrible and I can tell the idea of living so long frightens you."

Her father hung his head a little.

"I'm sorry, Yang. That's my fault as much as Raven's. I just wanted you to be safe. I couldn't protect you from your enemies. One day, I just won’t be there for you anymore. I needed to know one day you could protect yourself."

Yang let her emotions have free reign. She began to tear up. She was robbed of something important when they were separated. Words left unspoken had gnawed at her for months, most of that time Yang believing, at least partly, Taiyang was dead.

The little girl inside had to apologize to the man who gave so much so willingly that dark night on the northern coast.

"It's my fault, Daddy!” Yang looked her father in the eyes, tears pouring from hers as she sobbed, suddenly overwhelmed. “They came for me! They came for-"

Taiyang placed her cup into his, set them aside and slid over. He grabbed up Yang and shushed her.

"No. It's not your fault. They came after you because you tried to help Blake. You did the right thing trying to help her. You've always seemed to do the right thing, Yang. I still don't believe you hit that boy while he was down. I know what I saw on television, but I believe you are better than that. I know you are. I will believe you over my own eyes, Yang."

His words were kind and soothing, but she did not feel deserving. "But... but..."

"Yang, the people you crossed that night trying to save Blake are a big part of what is wrong with the world. They are ruthless. You know, I hadn't put on my gauntlets since Summer died? That night, when they came to kill my little girl..."

Taiyang stared out into the forest with dauntless blue eyes, holding his daughter in his arms. She cried, able at a moment's notice to cease and defend him and herself from attack. His embrace promised Yang the freedom from such responsibility. She understood, dragon that she was, she was safe to cry in the arms of this lion.

In his den, her protection was his obligation.

"I walked away from a life of violence. My little girls lost their Mom too early. I had to make sure they still had a Dad for years to come. After she passed, I promised Summer I would never take another mission or even fight outside of sparring and training again. I took a lot of crap for it. A lot of Hunters said I went yellow. That I lost my backbone. That I was a coward."

She knew nothing could be further from the truth. Yang always believed her father was no coward, not matter what the other students at Signal said. She got into more than one fight defending his honor.

"Daddy..."

"I swore on Summer’s memorial stone I would never kill another person again... but I never thought the White Fang would come for you here. At my house. While under a man's roof, his children should expect certain things. I got my gauntlets from under Summer’s folded up white cloak, put them on and loaded them up. I came out here into these woods and broke my promise.”

Taiyang looked up at the clear sky.

“I know Summer has already forgiven me."

Yang sniffed once and moved a bit in her father's grasp. The man released her and sat down beside her, keeping his left arm around her. She did not impose her will so much as she composed her emotions. Yang looked over at her father, her eyes and cheeks wet.

"I thought I lost you, you know that?"

Taiyang smirked faintly, a faint glint of bravado in his eye. "Your old man is hard to kill, Sweetie."

"I'm not going to lie to you. I'm really afraid of living so long. I... how did you... when Summer..."

Taiyang sighed, nodding faintly. "Losing people is a part of life, Yang. Everyday I wake up I miss her. Every night I go to sleep, I wish she was there. I think about her ten or more times a day. Visiting her stone helps. Seeing Ruby helps. She looks so much like her mother."

"Well, Blake and I can't exactly..."

"I know, but you have memories. Most of the things left from Summer were lost in the fire, even that last white cloak of her’s.” Taiyang sighed. “I still remember her laugh, though. I still make breakfast the same way she did. I can still close my eyes and see her smile. When I sleep, she's in my dreams."

“You dream about her?”

“All the time. She always smiles when I see her. She’s always standing out here, in the forest. She loved Patch. Summer loved living out here at the very edge of civilization. Sometimes, I even stay asleep long enough hold her hand and walk with her for a while. She asks about Ruby and you and sometimes even Qrow. She always worried about his drinking… and my bad habit of drinking alongside Qrow and getting us both into fights.”

Yang looked at him, a little surprised. She had never heard of that side of her father before.

“I’m more mellow now, believe me. Summer broke me of that bad habit of starting fights when you were still young and more than two beers is too many for me. Qrow… that might be a lost cause.”

Yang nodded, having only really seen her father as a calm customer.

"You know, sometimes I bake a batch of cookies using her recipe just so the cottage smells like them. I sit in my chair for the five or six minutes while they are cooking, pick up a newspaper and read an article. For five minutes, I pretend she's home and in the kitchen, baking for my little girls on a Sunday evening."

Taiyang sat silent for a moment, Yang not speaking. She was profoundly saddened by the lengths her father expressed going to. He was alone now, his daughters growing up and his wife dead. His former lover was, as always, in the wind.

"I... Dad, I really, really like Blake. I love her."

He laughed faintly. "I can tell. I see it in the way you two look at each other. Hell, I can hear her all through the cottage at night. I still wonder how you can train all day the next day."

Yang sighed, slightly embarrassed. She couldn't help herself and Blake, monthly cycle aside, had not said 'no' yet.

"Sorry."

"No, it's fine. I go outside, have a couple of beers and look at the stars. Maybe take a walk to see Summer and have a beer with her. Usually by eleven it's quiet and I can get to sleep."

"It doesn't bother you?"

Taiyang shook his head. "In a way, it's almost comforting. You love her and she loves you. What you two are doing is natural for young people in love. What more could I hope for?"

"Grandchildren."

"You can adopt one or two, you know. I have a feeling there will be more orphans in the coming years. They could use a couple of caring souls to raise them right and give them the things you and Ruby enjoyed growing up."

Yang hung her head a little, blushing at the prospect of having a family with Blake. "Yeah... I think we might... once this is all over."

"It'll give me some grandkids to spoil," Taiyang laughed. He seemed to take in his daughter's slowly deflating demeanor.

"You are afraid to lose Blake forever, aren't you Sweetie?"

"And you. And Ruby. Even Weiss. Qrow, Raven and even Adler."

"Yang, I'm your father. If things go the way they should, you will lose me. The same goes for Qrow even your mother. That's how this works. You hoped to grow old with Blake, your sister and your friend, but you can't now. Take it from me, it's always difficult to lose someone you care about deeply far too soon, but it does get easier. The pain never stops, but it does dull over time."

Yang nodded. She took a deep breathe, accepting her father's wisdom. "Sounds like what Adler told me. It wasn't much comfort."

"It's really bothering you, huh?"

"Scared to death." Yang could not find better words to express her undying terror and the nights of staring at the ceiling for an hour with tears at the edge of her eyes, nearly in a panic if not for her will.

"Well," Taiyang started, getting back to his feet slowly, "remember you will probably have your grandfather for a long time. Yang, I can't fully comprehend your situation, but at least one person in this world who cares about you knows what you are going through and will go through. In a way, Sweetie, that’s more than he had. The man still gets out of bed in the morning and, from what I’ve heard from you, Raven and Qrow he still lives life and seems to enjoy it."

Yang nodded, still troubled by mortality. That of others, not her own. Her father’s words, however, did ring with wisdom and truth. That was small comfort, but it was comfort nonetheless.

"Now, the best thing to do is stay distracted. To keep on living your life. I feel rested up and ready for another hour until lunch."

She stood as well with ease and retrieved their cups, putting the boot of her will to her sullen mood and pushing it aside. She headed for the wrought iron table and set both cups on it. Yang looked back to her father and nodded.

"Let's get after it then, old man."

"Good. One more hour of defense training. After lunch, though, I'm going to start teaching you counters. One every three days; two a week. It will take a while, but I have nothing better to do."

Taiyang rolled his staff around his hand using his hand and arm motion. He grabbed it up and planted it on the ground as his side.

"We are going to work at those counters until they are second nature. I know why you insist I come at you so fiercely and rapidly with this staff. You want to be ready to fight that little punk who stuck me."

"There is more than one person I need to be able to not run headlong at, but yeah, he's at the top of my shit list. I'm going to beat that son of a bitch into the mud right where he belongs."

"Get in line," Blake stated plainly from behind her.

Yang turned and found Blake in a grey tank top with her symbol on the front of her chest, a black strap around her right shoulder holding her weapon on her back. She was at the wrought iron table, her cup in hand and filling it from the cooler. Her pale skin was slick with sweat and slightly flush from effort, her midriff bare and her behind accentuated by black bike shorts. She took in the Faunus' long, bare legs ending in simple black and grey shoes stained with grass and ash.

Blake looked at Yang and smirked, lifting the cup to her lips as a faint breeze rustled her long black hair and bow. It was obvious Yang was checking her out and equally obvious Blake had noticed. Her yellow eyes narrowed and a mischievous smirk graced her lips.

Yang was suddenly not so interested in training. Her desires were pushed aside, her will clearing her head. There was still much to learn. Still, Yang grinned at Blake, her intent for later that evening crystal clear.

Her lover, for her part, merely maintained her mischievous little smile.

It was a date.

"Alright you two, there will be time for that later. I still think I have a few beers in the fridge." Taiyang walked up between them. "Would you like to join us Blake? I could use some help in keeping the pressure on Yang so I can work out the last of the issues with her defense. It'll also give you an opportunity to get some sparring in."

The Faunus looked at Yang's father and nodded. She set removed Gambol Shroud from her shoulder and leaned it against the tree by the table. Blake picked up a wooden training sword about the length of a katana.

"I've been meaning to put what I've been studying into practice. She might be able to keep up with you, but let's see if she can keep up with me."

Yang smiled wide, accepting the challenge. "Bring it on, kitten.”

Taiyang smiled. “One more thing before we continue, Yang."

With a flourish of will her father had her undivided attention, Yang taking the ready stance to receive his wisdom. Blake cracked a faint smile at Yang’s almost militant desire to learn and stood up straight, resting the training sword on her shoulder. Taiyang walked up to Yang and tapped one of her feet with his staff.

"I notice you watch the weapon too much. Did you know watching footwork and arm and hand movement can give you an even better read on what someone's weapon is about to do?"

Yang blinked. "Really? Why did you never teach me this before?"

"You had not advanced enough, but now I think you have. I can tell Blake is very perceptive. I bet I can teach her, too. She will help me teach you how to track a sword and I can show you how to track knives, a staff and other weapons. Come on, I'll show you both what I mean."

Blake and Yang looked at each other. They nodded, following Taiyang back out into the forest, ready to continue learning from the highly experienced Hunter.

Yang could tell her father still had a lot to teach them both. He had a lot to teach many, many students for years to come.


	20. Thinking About Forever

Yang sat on one of the two pushed together beds in her room, legs crossed in her meditation pose. Her hands rested in her lap on her black shorts as her chest slowly rose and fell in her symbol-bearing orange top, her breathing measured and controlled.

She kept her eyes closed and focused on the day's training. Her father's attacks with his staff and Blake's with her training sword moved through her memory in slow motion. She could recall each of her actions with crystal clarity, her willpower's dominion potent indeed.

Most of her actions were the correct move; a block or counter suitable to the attack and situation. Some were incorrect. Though some of her errors did not result in a blow landing upon her, each and every mistake forced an imperfection on her defense and ability to counter. In her mind Yang examined each mistake and, with some concentration, realized what a better move likely was.

The sessions would play out again and again in her mind, each option she felt was better being tried and the next few moves being filled in by her imagination. Sometimes, she would try another option, her understanding of Taiyang and Blake's styles allowing them to overcome the substituted tactic in her mind. Sometimes, she got the new answer right on the first try.

Realizing the proper counter or maneuver on the first attempt was becoming more and more common as the weeks passed. Yang's meditative abilities had improved enough for her to train, at least in some small way, against foes from her past within her mind.

A week earlier, she fought Neopolitan to a standstill in the train car. It was a simulation of what she understood about the woman's fighting style of counters, throws and keep away tactics, but Yang had learned to be brutally honest with herself in these sessions. If anything, the Neo of her imagination and memory was even more deadly and skilled than the genuine article.

Yang had died many times in her mental bouts. She would work through her mistakes and try again and again. She had eluded all the blows of the Beowolf she fought in the rain two weeks earlier, having a solid understanding of their combat prowess and patterns.

She still had difficulty solving the riddle that was Adam, however. His speed and prowess outweighed anything she could recall, even that of her father. She had taken to replaying the memory of Adler's duel with Adam in the rain over and over, searching for avenues of how to match the Leader of the White Fang.

Mercury, though, was the most surprising of the opponents she revisited. Yang understood her willpower had many quirks and advantages, but something she never expected was to see Mercury kneeling before her when she attacked him. Yang could also see him attacking her, but that version of the man appeared almost as a ghost.

This night was the first she had seen what everyone else had. Yang had never revisited the memory any further than her initial victory. It was meant as an exercise in eluding unnecessary blows. However, curiosity got the better of her.

What if she had merely blocked his kick rather than counter-punched?

She knew now someone, somehow, had tampered with her mind. It was a shocking realization. Her eyes fluttered and her concentration nearly broke, but only nearly. Yang maintained her concentration and did not deviate from her grandfather's instructions. She needed to meditate for at least 90 minutes every night. He trusted her to discover when that amount of time needed to increase.

Very much aware of how long she was in the theater of her own mind. She used her breathing to count the seconds by fives and it had been exactly 1,080 breathes. Yang's eyes slowly opened.

She found the moonlit, charred forest beyond the open windows and gently billowing curtains of her bedroom alive with small green flashes. It was growing later in the fall, and the devastation of the fire had certainly curtailed their numbers to a much smaller amount than her memory could recall, but the fireflies were out in force tonight.

Likely, this was their last hurrah before the real cold snaps began. It had been raining lightly for the past week and some water was standing around the cottage. While the mornings and evenings had grown slightly chilly the last few nights were slightly warmer and humid, giving the insects good conditions.

Yang watched them fly about, her head slowly following their movement and watching for flashes.

"Welcome back," Blake started from behind her.

She looked over her shoulder and rolled her head to move her blonde hair from view. Yang smiled at Blake, her lover already wearing her short black and white kimono evening attire. Her cat ears were bare, the Faunus having long since elected to leave off her bow in the privacy of the cottage.

None who lived within these four walls saw her as anything other than Blake.

The room was dimly lit by the reading lamp on the small table by her partner's new favorite chair. The large, comfortable seat was originally in Ruby's room, but there was no harm in bringing it to Yang's room in the meantime.

They had not heard from her sister or Qrow for that matter.

Blake closed the leather bound, gold leaf tome in her hands and gazed out the window. Her left hand reached past her mug, likely long since drained of tea, and with a single flick of an outstretched finger she quenched the reading light, plunging the room into near-darkness.

Yang watched her partner stand in the darkness, the Faunus' yellow eyes glinting faintly. Blake walked around the bed and sat to Yang's left.

"You know, sometimes I still can't believe you can sit perfectly still for so long and say or do absolutely nothing."

"Me too."

"I never expected that to be a part of our relationship, but I like it alot." Blake stared out the window, Yang doing so as well. "Between all the training and talking with your father, it's nice to just spend some time in quiet reflection. You meditating and I reading. We can each have some time to ourselves with our thoughts."

"And here you thought it was going to be all adventure and breathtaking sex."

Blake smiled, a glint of happiness in her eyes. "Well, it _is_ rather breathtaking. I'm sure the adventure part will start soon enough. It's been a two months, now. Two of the best months of my life, Yang. I cannot wait to see Weiss again, though."

Yang nodded in agreement as she watched a few motes of green cruise about the burnt branches of a tree.

"I don't know how she got that letter through. Things have been terrible between Atlas and Vale the past few weeks."

"Yeah. Without the CCTS, it's like we are back in the days before the Great War. Newspapers made a comeback, that's for sure. So did the postal stations." Blake glanced at a small stack of newspapers on the dresser across the room. "I do like the newspapers, though. Feels better than reading on your scroll."

"It does," Yang agreed, having grown accustomed to newsprint in the past months.

"There was no other mail with the letter. It was probably delivered by a smuggler."

Yang nodded in agreement.

That morning they had found a letter in the cottage mailbox addressed to both of them. The envelope was large enough to contain legal documents and made of high quality white paper embossed with the Schnee snowflake. None saw or heard it delivered.

The typed letter within spoke of a possible cease-fire between Vale and Atlas. The previous weeks had seen fighting on and around the island of Vytal between the two Kingdoms that was currently still within the demesne of Vale. Some of the air battles were very fierce, Atlesian airships sustaining heavy damage at the hands of Vale's makeshift air force of turbo-charged Bullhead gunships.

Vale's loses, however, were mounting as the war marched on.

In seventeen hours of fighting ten days ago reported on after the matter by newspapers that finally made it to the cottage just a few days earlier, Atlas very nearly took North Point, the town on the northern coast of the contested island. Hundreds of soldiers had died in the fighting around the town and two Atlesian destroyers were brought down into the icy water with rocket and rotary cannon fire at the cost of seven Bullhead gunships.

However, fishing ships crewed by citizens of Vale went to the aid of the sinking airships and stricken Bullhead crews and rescued many of the men and women in the face of a closing storm. By all accounts, it was this act of bold mercy, not any lose of life or material, that brought forward Atlesian diplomats.

The fishermen could have very easily rescued the Bullhead crews and left the Atlesians to their fates in the storm.

"Do you really think they will agree on a ceasefire, kitten?" Yang asked, still looking out the window, hopeful for an end to such useless bloodshed.

"I don't know. I would like this stupid war to end so the world can focus on the White Fang, but you know the thing about wars sunshine?" Blake looked at her girlfriend and sighed. "They have a way of not ending until it is far too late."

Yang nodded. "Well, if it does happen, we’re are definitely going to take up Weiss on her invitation."

"I have put the paperwork she sent in a safe place." Blake gestured to the dresser at the end of the room. "All we have to do is present the documents to the captain of the Atlesian airship taking Vale's diplomats north, should they agree to stop killing each other."

"I hope. I can't wait to hug her," Yang sighed, glancing at her arm. "I owe her a lot for everything she did for me, Blake."

"I do as well. Sadly, there's nothing we can do but go to the capital and wait and see. I've packed most of our things."

"Our things..."

Blake glanced Yang, tilting her head as her cat ears twitched.

"That has a nice ring to it, huh?"

"It does." The Faunus smiled as she looked back out the window at the myriad fireflies. "How was your meditation, sunshine?"

"I saw something interesting this time."

"Did you finally beat Adam?"

The Human shook her head. That was always her first question.

"No, but I lasted a little longer this time before he took my head."

Blake's gaze narrowed, her expression turning sour as her ears twitched once more. "Well, that's a _pleasant_ mental image."

"Yeah, tell me about it." She shook her head with a laugh. "What I meant was I went back to my fight with Mercury Black again. All of it this time. Start to how it ended up finishing."

Blake inhaled deeply and a few seconds of silence later exhaled sharply. This was a subject they had not spoken of more than a word or two since they were reunited.

"So what did you see?"

"I punched him in the leg while he was down."

The Faunus looked at Yang with large, near-reflective yellow eyes. Yang continued looking out at the fireflies.

"I also saw him attack me at the same time. I saw both versions; what I saw in my mind and what actually went down." Yang's head slowly moved to meet Blake's gaze, her own eyes narrowed and hard purple. "Someone fucked with my mind and when I find out who it was, I'm going rip their head clean off their fucking shoulders."

Blake's lips parted, but she did not speak or make a noise. Slowly her mouth closed. She nodded once. She grabbed Yang's hand and squeezed it.

"I believe you."

"You know I have a temper, I-"

"No Yang, I mean I believe you when you tell me someone manipulated you. As of for their head, I will hold their arms behind their back so you can tear it off their fucking shoulders."

Yang's eyes widened at the vengeful aggression in her lover's tone. As strong as Yang had become, and as undeniable it was that Yang had rather naturally assumed a dominant, decision making role in the two's relationship, Blake nonetheless carried a fierce protectiveness within in regards to Yang.

The Human was certain seeing her maimed by Adam and failures and experiences Blake had confided in Yang while weeping in her arms the occasional night the Faunus felt low over the past months was the source. Yang witnessed this ferociously emotional side of Blake rarely, in fleeting glimpses.

It was comforting to know someone cared for her so fiercely. The promise of violence in Blake's eyes and the sharpness of her expression was not intimidating. If anything, something deep within Yang found it both arousing and amusing. How a predator likely found overmatched prey squaring up on it for a fight amusing.

The dragon wanted to know if the kitten could maintain such an expression for long against her.

Yang silenced the flame of lust within. That could wait. She raised her cybernetic and lightly tapped Blake's nose with the tip of a finger.

"Boop."

Blake shook her head, her cat ears twitching. She touched her nose and smiled, the ferocity leaving her eyes and her expression softening.

"What does that even mean?"

Yang shrugged. She sighed, looking back out the window.

"I know you doubted me when I told you I saw him attack me and I don't blame you, kitten. I was doubting myself there for a while when training with Adler, but now, having gone back to that memory, I can see I was manipulated into hitting him while he was down."

"Yeah..." Blake looked back out the window, her tone carrying a hint of guilt.

Yang rubbed her back, reassuring her no grudge was held.

"Do you know how they did it, Yang?"

"I don't know, but I do know one thing."

"It's not going to happen again, is it?"

"Unbreakable willpower," both surmised with a whisper and a faint laugh, their collective mood lightening and their eyes lighting up a bit.

Blake leaned into Yang, releasing the Human's hand and returning both to the book on her lap. Yang put her left arm around her lover and squeezed her close, nuzzling her cheek into the Faunus' and receiving a peck on it in kind.

They sat together for a minute in silence, watching the fireflies dance and listening to the crickets. A single firefly landed on the window sill, flashing green at irregular intervals.

"How about you?" Yang began in a whisper. "You have been reading that book a lot lately, kitten."

" _Legends of Remnant_ is a favorite of mine. I had a few copies of it in paperback and one hard bound, but this one is a work of art. I must have thanked Adler a dozen times for gifting it to me."

"He seemed to really like you."

"He told me a few times I reminded him of someone special."

Yang took a deep breath, pushing a bit of dread away. She watched the firefly on the sill flash and go dark. A moment later, it flashed again, only this time a few centimeters from where it was, apparently walking along the wooden window sill.

"What were you reading about this time kitten?"

"You know, I didn't like it when you would call me that, especially in front of others." They looked into each other's eyes once more. "Now, though... I like it. I wouldn't let anyone call me that without a red hand mark across their face, but you... I know it comes from a place of love, Yang."

"You found a way to get back at me, too. Sunshine? Really?"

"Well, you brighten up my life. Also, a couple of weeks ago your father told me what your name means so it works."

"I like it." The Human smiled and leaning in, brushing her lips over Blake's. She pulled back and watched as a firefly flashed just inside the window, at least one flying around within the room proper.

"Anyways, considering my girlfriend and her grandfather, I decided to read the dragon and thunderbird legends again." Blake looked back out the window. "The Storm Eagle of Vacuo is interesting. The legends say he watched mortals from his high mountain and never interfered with their affairs except to punish those who broke their oaths or who acted in a highly dishonorable way. It would also fly out to meet out Justice when the law of the land had failed or was somehow overthrown."

"Divine agents of Justice. That's what Adler called them."

Blake nodded.

"That was all it did until, one day, it watched a Beowolf attack and cut a boy's leg, knocking him down helpless. The thunderbird did not move, that sort of thing a part of life, but then it watched the boy's friend pick up a stick and hit the Beowolf on the nose. The boy with the stick stood between his friend and the Grimm, but the Beowolf would not back down. Neither did the boy. Legend has it the Storm Eagle of Vacuo was so moved by such a great act of courage it swooped down and landed between the children and Grimm, sending the Beowolf fleeing into the forest at the sight of the mighty, majestic bird."

Yang blinked, watching another firefly flash about near the window. She knew the legend of the thunderbird, more or less, but had not heard that particular tale. Then again, she never read _Legends of Remnant_. All she knew was from popular folklore and stories Summer Rose used to tell her and Ruby.

"I never heard that one before."

Blake shifted her narrowing yellow gaze onto Yang, a faint smirk tugging at the edges of her mouth. "For such a mystic badass of a warrior, you sure don't read much."

"I'll read an entire library one day."

Yang raised her cybernetic and crossed her index and middle finger on the metallic hand. It was an impressive display of dexterity considering the nature of the limb. The X-Five truly was the next step forward in cybernetics technology.

"I promise."

Blake's expression softened. "Sure you will. I've seen you read. It takes you an hour to finish a single chapter. I'll be long dead by the time you finish half the books in that library."

Her tone was both chiding and joking, the remark typical of her lover as long as Yang had known her. Nonetheless, Blake's words cut Yang harshly. It was not the dig at her slow reading speed that troubled her, however.

Yang kept her emotions at bay handily, seeing that headstone in the rain once more in the back of her mind. Fear cried out within like a faint alarm.

The Faunus laughed a little, Yang putting on a smile for her lover.

"I'll get faster at reading. So, what about the dragons? All fire, death and tormenting _little things_." Yang started, shamelessly grabbing Blake's behind and drawing a jump and yelp from the woman as a hot breathe carried the words 'little things' from her lips onto her lover's skin.

"You know, being all around monsters."

A bit of red graced Blake's cheeks at her lover's aggression. Yang wanted to jump on her, but once more, her desires were placed on hold.

"Yeah, they were pretty horrible. Demanding beautiful maidens be given to them, amassing piles of gold and generally ruining people's days with the whole 'fire and death' thing. They more or less ruled Remnant for decades."

Yang smirked and Blake tilted her head.

"Then one day, the gods demanded the dragons bow. It was only right. The gods were above the dragons and the dragons demanded everything beneath them bow to them or die. The dragons should in turn bow to their betters."

Yang shook her head with a wide smile, her eyes glowing a faint red and her hair catching a bit of faint golden flame. The firefly flashes seemed to intensify in response to the golden glow.

"Never."

Her features cooled to their normal hues as Blake smiled at her.

"That's what the dragons said. They fought the gods in a great war that lasted a century. Even the Grimm were said to have kept their distance. Many of the gods were wounded and the goddess of the moon was killed, shattering the moon like a fallen mirror. For their part, the dragons were nearly wiped from existence."

"Hearts of pure defiance."

"Exactly. However, some dragons did not fight the gods in the war."

Yang looked at Blake. She knew about as much on the subject as thunderbirds. Yang was always under the impression the dragons went down fighting to the very last.

"What do you mean, kitten?"

"Well, _dragon_ ," Blake began as her cat ears twitched and she jabbed a finger into Yang's right ribs, "a handful of dragons, seeing the plight of the mortals as dragons and gods ravaged Remnant with war whilst the Grimm preyed upon people and settlements without challenge, took it upon themselves to protect Human and Faunus. The gods and other dragons did not know what to think of these protector dragons. The people of Remnant, however, were grateful."

Blake opened the book to a page marked by a red ribbon. A glint of golden reflection from the artwork's ink sparkled in Yang's purple eyes in the faint moonlight. On the page opposite another of text handwritten long ago by a monk was artwork Yang had never seen.

The dragon depicted on the page looked like every picture of a dragon Yang had seen with large wings, a long tail and neck and four limbs. Instead of green or red coloration, however, this dragon was orange and yellow and accented in golden ink. Before the dragon was a tide of Grimm. Behind it was a walled city with small castle towers as well as the smoke of fires rising above it. The city looked damaged, but not destroyed, the little banners on the castle towers still flying. Above the scene the sun shone bright through broken clouds.

"Transcending their base desires for wealth, dominion and even vengeance, these golden dragons were transformed by the sacrifices they made of the things they held most dear to protect Human and Faunus. These dragons shared their fortunes with the world to improve the lot of mortals and they set their maidens free, though some maidens stayed out of admiration of these dragons' newfound nature.

Blake flipped the page to an illustration of a nude, dark-skinned and dark-haired woman wearing a silvery tiara looking up at a golden dragon. She was playing a harp, the massive beast looking down on her with kind eyes and seemingly appreciative of her music. The maiden was in no way chained or shackled and was smiling serenely as she played, seeming quite happy.

"Like their brothers and sisters, the golden dragons were still quick to anger, very willing to visit fire and death upon their foes and very much proud. Like all dragons, they did not bow to the gods. Unlike the other dragons, the gods never demanded it of them again, having seen their selflessness proven time and again. As far as the legend is concerned, the gods treated the golden dragons, like the noble thunderbirds, as true peers. Together, along with the Sacrificed and Her angels, they are told to be the true protectors of Remnant."

Yang touched the page and took in the majestic creature of legend looking down at a crowned princess playing for it music. She dwelled upon the golden beast and the dark skinned maiden for thirty seconds or more, but Adler's words rang clear in her memory.

This was not who she was. Yang's soul was a monster and she felt its impulses in quiet moments or when looking upon Blake in stolen glances as the woman dressed or bathed. She knew it in dreams where she murdered Neopolitan and Adam brutally before Blake's eyes and then, filled with lust, took Blake then and there amongst the flames and blood.

Blake's cries were not of pleasure in those nightmares.

Yang flipped a few pages back again and found artwork of a red-scaled dragon rampaging through a farm field, the buildings and crops aflame as soldiers vainly attempted to stay the beast's wrath. On the opposite page, a green-scaled dragon relaxed atop a massive pile of gold as three nude women stood in the foreground, bound in chains. One held a small crown of gold, one a bottle of wine and the last scrolls, the items likely related to what their life was before being taken or even likely given to the dragon. All three women wept.

Yang tapped the page, looking up at Blake. "That's more like it. Fire and death."

"Yang..."

"Blake, this is what I am inside. If it wasn't for my willpower, I would be a terrible monster."

The Faunus closed the book and set it aside on the bed as a few fireflies flitted and flashed about the room all around them. She leaned in close, looking Yang in the eyes and taking the Human's left hand into both of her own once more. Blake squeezed gently.

"You are not a monster, Yang. You are proud and were quick to anger, absolutely, but you are probably the most loyal, kind and caring person I have ever met. You're a Huntress, Yang. You protect people. You wouldn't hurt anyone unless they deserved it."

"Blake, I... I'm..."

Blake stared directly into Yang's eyes.

"You are the most courageous person I have ever known."

Yang shook her head faintly, letting her emotions fall as they may. "No... I..."

"My little dragon," Blake whispered, a pet name she almost never used and only when they were alone, "you went through so much to get to where you are today. Your arm, almost losing your father, going through hell with your grandfather. Now you are learning how to fight in a completely different way. So many people would have quit at any one of those challenges. You met them all. You sacrificed so much, Yang."

Blake's amber gaze showed not the slightest bit of doubt as Yang's lips began to quiver, her amethyst eyes beginning to grow wet.

"You are truly fearless, Yang."

"I'm... I'm scared, Blake."

Terror and fear slammed into Yang like a truck as the words left her lips. She grabbed onto the Faunus and pulled her into her chest, holding onto Blake as tightly as that rainy night in Vacuo.

Only now the tears were not of happiness. Yang's eyes were wide and glowing red, her hair alight once more and filling the room with a golden glow.

"Yang, you-"

"I don't want to lose you!" Yang sobbed as her tears flowed fully. "I'm scared to be alone! I don't want to be ancient, youthful and alone in the world. I don't want to live without you Blake! I don't! I can't! I'm too scared of it!"

Blake hugged her, rubbing her back. "It's okay Yang. I'm right here in your arms."

"One day you won't be! One day, sooner or later, I'll be all alone again! I can't do it! I can't!" Yang shuddered in Blake's arms, sobbing harder. "I don't want this! I can't do this! I can't end up like him!"

"Yang," the Faunus whispered again. "You'll be okay. We've discussed this a dozen times. There is no reason to keep thinking about forever."

"I'm so scared, Blake. Seeing what losing Summer did to Daddy. Imagine that, only for hundreds of years! I'll have to turn off all emotion forever. You are too precious to me! I love you too much! I can't let you be taken from me!"

Her lover remained silent in her arms, but still Blake rubbed Yang's back as she cried.

"This is a curse! Nobody in their right mind would want this!"

Blake's left hand slowly rested on the back of Yang's head, her fingers threading into the woman's glowing, golden hair. Her emotional pain was on full display, the fireflies still flashing about beyond the window amongst the columns of burnt wood.

The Faunus moved Yang's chin onto her shoulder.

"Here, my little dragon. It's okay." Blake shushed Yang as she cried. "Go ahead. I've got you now. It's okay to cry. Thank you for not hiding it away."

Her voice seemed a very part of the night enveloping them. Blake's warmth was a kind, gentle reminder that, for the moment, Yang was not alone. Taiyang's embrace and voice was a father's promise of safety, but Blake's was a comfort unlike any imaginable.

It was bittersweet medicine. One day, this would not be a comfort Yang could enjoy.

"I can't lose you... you are what I cherish most," Yang whispered. "Nothing compares."

"One day you'll have to let me go forever."

Yang shook her head as the tears flowed and stained the shoulder of Blake's evening attire. "No. No."

"It's okay. It's not today. It won't tomorrow. Maybe years and years from now. But one day-"

"I can't. I won't. **I won't!** " Yang's squeezed down on Blake harder as her hair shed dozens of embers, the fireflies responding in kind.

"I will always love you, Yang. Nothing will ever take that away from you."

Yang continued to cry on Blake's shoulder, unwilling and, as such and in such distress, unable to stop. Her lover's promise sank in slowly, provoking more tears and sobbing.

They stayed that way for a few minutes as the fireflies continued to flash and fly about the room and beyond in the forest. After what seemed like a painful, yet blissful eternity, Yang's sobbing finally abated.

"I keep ending up like this," Yang whimpered, feeling almost ashamed of her emotional weakness when her will was not imposed.

"Hugging me? I really don't mind, though the metal arm isn't so comfortable around my back."

Yang laughed faintly through her tears as Blake's words brought a touch of levity back to her heart. She moved her cybernetic up to Blake's shoulders and her left arm down to the small of the woman's back.

"That day you started training with Dad and I to read footwork... I cried that day, too. I felt so bad about all he went through for me." Yang sniffed, still holding onto her lover. "Now I'm doing it again."

"Because you are afraid to be alone. Because you can't bring yourself to give up what's most dear to you even though, one day, you won't have a choice."

Yang nodded on Blake's shoulder, her glowing red eyes watching a couple of firefly flashes near the dresser.

"Do you know why you keep crying, my little dragon?"

"Because I'm a _giant coward_."

"No. That's the last thing you are." Blake parted from Yang, the Human holding onto her hip and opposite shoulder and the Faunus keeping her arms under Yang's and her hands on the woman's back. "You're still Human at heart."

"Does that make you Faunus at heart?" Yang mustered a faint smile and laugh, her lover smirking back faintly. She was trying to lighten her own mood more than anything. Trying to distract herself from the ticking of some unseen clock.

"You know what I mean. You are not some heartless monster, Yang. You have feelings. You can control them, sure, but you still have them. I just always want you to know that, when we are alone together, it's okay for you to not always be so strong. You always want to carry me and sometimes I need it very much, but I can carry you for a little while if you need me too."

The Human nodded, her red eyes slowly cooling back to purple as the glow of her hair faded from the room.

"You are imposing your will again, aren't you?"

Yang shook her head. It was no lie. Crying in Blake's arms helped a lot. She was feeling much better for letting so much pent-up emotion out.

Blake smiled, her cat ears twitching. "Then I'm glad you feel better, sunshine."

"It's all thanks to you, kitten."

"It's a relief for me too. You were squeezing that metal arm across my back pretty hard."

"It's not so bad, you know. It lets me pick you up and carrying you around. I will fight better with it. I learned how to use my left to do everything so now I'm pretty much ambidextrous." Yang smirked. "Also, it has a sword in it. That's just cool."

"You can count to ten again, too."

Yang's misty purple eyes narrowed on Blake's narrowed yellow, the Faunus looking more than a little smug.

"I had one hand for a long time. Two is way better, trust me. Making food and eating is a lot easier, that's for sure. So is going to the bathroom and getting dressed. Or undressed."

The Human smirked at the Faunus, not getting an answer to her perhaps not so subtle signal.

"I know it's great Yang, but it's not the most comfortable thing to have on my skin or pressed against my body. You have noticed I sit on your left when I can, right?"

Yang nodded. She understood completely.

Blake smiled faintly, holding onto the sleeve of her short kimono and wiping the tears from Yang's reddened, wet face.

"Still, I accept everything about you, Yang. Even your metal arm. Just... be a little more mindful of how much stronger and tougher you are than me? Especially the metal part of you."

The Faunus held Yang's cybernetic arm by the wrist and kissed the knuckles, further driving her point home. She released the limb, leaned in and kissed Yang on the tip of her nose and then once more on the cheek.

"I love you, sunshine."

"Love you too, kitten."

Yang smirked, glancing at her metallic right limb.

"You know though, it does have some other advantages."

"Hmm?"

Yang smiled and laid her cybernetic hand on Blake's lap at the edge of her kimono. She reached under the bottom of the clothing slowly and ran her metal index and middle fingers up along the inside of her lover's thigh.

"Eh... it's cold and hard," Blake sighed, pulling back a little and breaking eye contact, looking out the window once more. "I want to, Yang, but I'd prefer your lef-"

On Yang's mental command the faint sound of buzzing reached their ears.

Blake's eyes opened wide, her yellow irises thin around her large black pupils. Her cat ears stood straight up as her face, neck and upper chest began to burn red.

"Yang... do those fingers have-"

"Uh huh," the Human replied with a nod, her lips and teeth parted into a wide smile on her face as her purple eyes glinted with lustful intent in the faint moonlight. She was feeling much, much better. Back to her old, lustful, whimsical self.

"Why would you-"

"For fun and profit."

Blake's eyes slowly shifted from the window to Yang's, the woman's expression still a mixture of shock, a bit of embarrassment and a definite dash of arousal.

"When?"

"Two days ago during the rain. While maintaining my arm I installed a little motor in each and every finger. Ten speeds. Twenty-two different patterns. Almost no drain on the power supply. Fingers are great at bending to get to those hard to reach spots, so what a perfect combination, hmm?"

"Yang... I'm going to have a talk with Taiyang. You have too much time on your hands when it's raining."

Yang leaned in, still smiling a large, predatory smile as her eyes glowed faint red and her hair caught the slightest bit of golden flame. A few golden embers joined the chorus of green fireflies moving about the room.

"I wouldn't blame the rain, kitten. I've had the idea for a while now. You know how I can get... if you let me. _Please let me._ "

Blake took a dry swallow and her ears twitched as vibrating fingers caressed further up her thigh. She glanced to the wall to find her shadow accompanied by a dragon's. Her amber eyes slowly narrowed as she looked back into her lover's red.

"Yang?"

"Yes, little kitty cat?"

" _I love your wickedly filthy mind sometimes._ "

Yang's grin grew wider as Blake's cat ears folded back, the Faunus giving a small nod to make her answer crystal clear.

Taiyang would enjoy more than a couple beers in the moonlight at Summer's marker, mercifully far from the open window of his daughter's room and Blake's cries in the night.


	21. Northern Light

Dawn broke over the eastern horizon at the curve of the world, the first orange rays of the sun kissing Yang's bronze skin. She stood at the forward railing on the observation deck of the mighty Atlesian air command cruiser _Northern Light_. Far beneath the cruiser the ocean passed, nothing more than a dark mass occasionally broken by strands of whitecaps.

The soft drone of the ship's engines and the low howl of the wind as it passed were the only sounds in the dim morning light.

Yang’s long blonde hair and orange cape fluttered in the wind, her burning heart symbol large on the cape's back in gold within a black circle. The cape was pinned to her completely sleeveless brown leather vest with a silver brooch with the symbol of Beacon Academy raised within it on her left shoulder. Pinning it to her right shoulder was another silver brooch enameled in blue around a raised, solitary jagged bolt of lightning.

Yang took a deep breath, enjoying the crisp, clean air well above the northern ocean dividing Vale from Atlas. The cold air on her bare, muscular midriff, arms and the generous cleavage on display out of the top of her yellow top held no malice for her. Her hands rested on the railing, her left in a fingerless black glove and the top half of Inferno Celica around her wrists in bracelet form.

Her thick brown leather bullet belt filled with rounds hung around her waist, Furiosa holstered at her right hip. Yang's legs were covered by a pair of snug fitting tan pants that ended within a pair of brown leather boots clad on the sides with the yellow shin guards of a compacted lower half of Inferno Celica.

Blake and Yang were given permission to remain armed by the Captain. Weiss Schnee vouched for their character in her letter with the added strength of her father's signature beneath her own. Considering the Captain of the _Northern Light_ , the letter held more weight than it would have with any other.

Not far in the distance to her right Yang could make out another airship, smaller than _Northern Light_. It was one of three escorts accompanying the large, impressive Atlesian vessel. These ships were part of an important mission, though it was not her own.

Vale and Atlas had agreed to a ceasefire along the contested fronts for one week. As a show of good faith, Vale sent forth emissaries and diplomats to Atlas, on Atlesian ships, to discuss the possibility of restoring peace between the two nations.

Perhaps this was the first step on the road to a better future? Perhaps, in two weeks, the _Northern Light_ would be blockading a city on Vale's northern coast once again.

While Yang hoped for the best, she and Blake were just passengers hitching the only ride north. For all the importance of what was occurring around them, they were merely guests of the Schnee Family invited to visit their friend Weiss during the agreed week of cease fire.

The two young Huntress' presence had been tolerated for the past day and a half by the crew of the _Northern Light_. Still, the Captain assigned them VIP quarters and allowed them as well as the emissaries some run of the ship, though anyone from Vale was prohibited from entering some of the more sensitive compartments dealing with weaponry, communications and flight systems. One of the two hangers was also completely closed off to them as well for ‘security reasons’.

As Yang enjoyed the view a close eye was kept on her by a junior officer through the glass of the command bridge. There was still a level of distrust between Atlesian and Valen. She paid them no mind, instead focusing on enjoying the trip and anticipating seeing her friend.

The hatch on the side of the bridge opened, Blake walking out to join Yang. The wind fluttered her white coat, black bow and black hair. Her legs and hips were clad in black pants and tall black boots, her upper body in a complicated black top Yang had come to love finding new ways to slip her hands into. Over Blake’s shoulder protruded the handle of Gambol Shroud kept across her back.

The Faunus’ reaction to the cold kiss of the northern air on her bare belly was immediate as she shivered slightly. In her hands was a ceramic cup, steam rising from it and quickly being carried away.

Blake was always early to rise lest it be after an evening of passion. The previous night was such, though the young lovers kept their dalliance on the tamer end of the scale of their passions. While a large ship, their room shared walls with two others. Both women decided some consideration was called for.

Yang smiled as Blake came alongside her, the Faunus shivering faintly in the cooling northern air. The Human grabbed her cloak fluttering behind her and wrapped her cybernetic arm around Blake's midriff, covering her bare skin with the orange garment.

Blake quietly took a sip of her tea. She lowered the white mug and looked out at the rising sun.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? The cloud deck, just above our heads. The ocean sprawling out in all directions below. The first light of day."

The Faunus leaned into Yang, resting her head on her lover's shoulder, gazing out at the horizon.

The Human tightened her hold on the Faunus. "Second most beautiful thing I've seen all morning, kitten."

Blake smiled faintly. "Too bad about the cold, though."

"It's not so bad."

"Maybe for you, sunshine. I can’t just shut it out." Blake shivered a bit as she took another sip of her rapidly cooling tea. "I spoke with Captain Schnee. We should be arriving at the coastline of Atlas in the next hour. Once the diplomats are off to their meeting with the leadership of Atlas a Bullhead will take us to the Schnee Dust Corporation World Headquarters."

"I cannot wait to hug Weiss. I wonder how her training with her father and some of the finest fencing instructors and Dust manipulators he could hire has been going. I wonder if her tits ever came in the mail or if her sister really did steal both sets for herself."

Blake laughed faintly.

Yang made a faint growling noise. “Winter is… yeah. Yum.”

“Yes, she most certainly is.”

“I only have room in my heart for you, kitten.” Yang smirked faintly. “My eyes will wander a bit, though.”

“Well, you are a young, strong woman with an interest in other young, strong women. You are also a dragon. Your eyes will naturally attract to beautiful things and especially beautiful women.” Blake shrugged. “Just don’t get too possessive if my eyes wander now and then, too. Just window shopping, like you.”

A bit of jealous possessiveness tugged at Yang’s will, but she turned it away with ease. If she could go window shopping, it was only fair Blake could. Still, her true nature had spoken and Yang decided not to fully ignore it.

“No promises.”

Blake glanced up at Yang and smirked. “In a way, that’s what I wanted to hear.”

Yang grinned, a faint flash of red in her eyes and the slightest shedding of gold from her mane.

Blake’s left hand seemed to absentmindedly grace her hair and gently fluttering bow as she looked back out at the horizon.

"It's fine, kitten. I don't think they can tell."

"I'm just a little nervous. I haven't worn it much these past months and now I desperately want it to stay on.”

"If anyone says anything mean about your ears I'll knock their teeth down their throat."

“While I appreciate the sentiment, it might not be the best move considering we are from Vale on an Atlesian ship in the middle of a war while a peace mission is taking place."

Yang squeezed Blake tight and smiled at her as the Faunus looked her in the eyes. "I'll say 'sorry' afterwards. I promise."

"I doubt you will, sunshine. I don’t think I would want you to, anyways."

It always amazed Yang how much Blake seemed to understand her.

Blake tilted her head, putting her lips near Yang's ear. "Last night was fun, but I wish we could have cut loose again. Most of the bruises from last time healed. I think I might like seeing your shadow pinning me down more than I should."

The Human smirked. "I know you do. I can hear it in your screams."

"In some odd way, as much of a rush of of danger as I get from it, being with you when you are like that makes me feel safe."

Yang looked at Blake again, a little surprised by her lover's sentiment. "Really?"

Blake nodded. "You won't hurt me anymore than I want you too and what could be more dangerous than you? Like you told me our first time. 'I'm safe in your jaws', Yang."

Warmth of love and a bit of newly rekindled lust filled Yang's heart. Her kind purple eyes fell on Blake's love-filled yellow.

"Oh kitten... I hope Weiss gives us a room far away from anyone else's because tonight-"

"Good morning, ladies," Winter Schnee began, walking forward to another portion of the railing, looking out at the long prow of the airship. She was dressed in her incredibly sharp and very flattering white and blue attire. At her side was her rapier, gleaming in the faint morning light like polished silver. Her cold blue gaze and intense expression fell upon them.

"I trust you two slept well when you were not keeping my junior officers awake with your carousing."

Blake did not make eye contact with Winter, instead looking out at the horizon to their collective right as a faint hint of red crept into her cheeks. Apparently, even their tamer expressions of physical intimacy were still not tame enough. Blake could be very vocal and now she seemed somewhat ashamed that strangers may have heard or perhaps even taken pleasure in her pleasure.

Yang had no such shame.

"Well Captain Schnee, this is a very romantic setup." Yang held out her left hand to the horizon, her purple eyes lighting up as she smiled. "Two young lovers, sailing between sea and cloud into northern skies, accompanying a mission of peace _in the midst of a war_. It's like the plot of a cheap romance novel. What did you expect when you gave us a room together with a full size bed?"

"Not much. My sister wishes to see familiar, friendly faces and my father agreed. That is why you are here. The only reason you two are on my ship, in fact. If not for the letter and documentation you two presented, you both would be back in Vale where you belong."

Yang continued to smile wide at Winter, parting her lips just slightly to give a glint of teeth. Something about Winter's demeanor made her want to get under the woman's skin and being so committed to Blake, her grandfather’s advice would not apply.

Winter's eyes narrowed, sharp and cold, seeming to react if only faintly. Perhaps Yang had a bit of her Uncle Qrow’s desire to annoy in her nature? Or maybe her draconic soul simply wondered if she could wipe that look off Winter's face. Something about authority just seemed to _annoy_ Yang now.

Unless she respected someone, why listen to them? Titles meant little to her, only skill, deeds and actions. Her soul’s nature was slowly creeping into her own a little more each passing day. However, Yang mantained some decorum. She kept her wit put away.

For now.

A male junior officer with short blonde hair in a white Atlesian uniform walked out to Winter's side, saluted and had the gesture returned. He whispered something to the ship's Mistress as he pointed to the horizon. Captain Schnee nodded, taking an offered pair of large, powerful binoculars from the young man. She looked through them to the horizon directly in front of the _Northern Light_.

"That is odd. There should be no patrols in this sector. Ensign, hail their lead ship."

The ensign looked at Winter with an impressive poker face and then at Yang and Blake. He motioning his head towards them, Yang raising her cybernetic from Blake and making a 'peace' sign with it.

Winter stared at the junior officer. "I see them there, yes. Out with it man."

"We have attempted to hail them twice, Captain Schnee. There has been no response, Ma'am."

Winter tilted her head and looked back forward through the binoculars once more. "Perhaps their communication system is down or the cease fire has filled their crew with a misplaced sense of security. That is poor discipline. Have the signalwoman hail them with the lamp. They are preparing to fly through our course and at similar altitude no less, the damn fools."

"Aye-aye, Ma'am." The ensign saluted and walked back into the command bridge, relaying the order.

Yang looked back forward, shielding her eyes with her cybernetic hand. She squinted, barely able to make out the forms flying slowly in the distance. She counted at least five, but they were close enough together there could be more.

A young woman with short, stylish blonde hair in an Atlesian military uniform with a pair of crossed flags sewn onto her shoulder came out onto the observation deck and saluted Winter as she passed, Captain Schnee returning the gesture. The young woman went to a covered lamp placed on the railing to the port of the ship, removed the covering and powered it on. She placed one hand on a simple lever on the side while the other held the base of the lamp.

The young woman looked at Winter with bright green eyes. "Ready when you are, Captain."

Winter nodded. "Atlesian ships, please engage communications if able."

The signalwoman looked forward and began rapidly cycling the switch, the cover on the lamp opening and closing in a series of short and long periods, sending the message.

"If not, correct course to avoid possible collision. Reply however most practicable. Repeat that message twice."

"Aye-aye Ma'am." The signalwoman continued sending the message, working through each letter in the old form of coded communication once used with mirrors and later simple electrical currents over wire lines during the Great War. She paused for a moment and set about repeating the message.

"They should have responded already," Yang stated flatly, lowering her hand and staring hard at the slowly growing forms on the horizon. "Something is wrong."

Blake nodded as Winter's eyes narrowed. A feeling of unease spread amongst the four.

A series of red flashes responded to the third transmission of the message. The signalwoman stepped back from her lamp slowly, her jaw dropping and her eyes wide. Laser fire streaked into the escort off the starboard, rocking it.

"Get inside! Sound general quarters!" Winter turned as the signalwoman ran past and back into the bridge. Captain Schnee pointed at various members of the crew on the command deck, motioning with her hands as the sailors of the sky sprang to action. Her voice rang loud and true over the wind.

"Raise the Light Barrier and optimize it forward! All ahead full! Notify the escorts to prepare for battle! Notify high command that the diplomatic mission is under attack!"

The ship's klaxon began to sound general quarters. Winter stayed on the observation deck, turning and looking back forward with Blake and Yang. They watched as the ships on the horizon rippled with red flashes. An energy field past the prow of the _Northern Light_ shimmered as it was struck multiple times, dissipating the laser energy away with ease.

The escort to their right was struck again twice, an explosion tearing through the aft sections of the smaller ship and sending fragments of metal showering to the waves far below.

"The _Cloudrunner_ has been hit!" Winter shouted back into the command bridge. "Bring up weapons at once! Ready Vapor flight! Secure the passengers!"

She looked at Blake and Yang, her eyes narrowing harshly.

"You two stay with me. I will see you both to my sister and these diplomats to safety."

Blake watched in silence as the escort began to trail flame and smoke, slowly dropping out of formation with the _Northern Light_ and sinking downwards to the ocean like a kite on a faint breeze. She shook her head and looked back forward, out at the shapes of airships in the gloomy distance, the sun only partially risen.

Yang glanced at the faltering _Cloudrunner_. A detonation erupted from one of its long wing-like structures to the aft, the smaller ship beginning to pitch over to port slightly. Her emotions and thoughts began to clash. She wanted to help the crew, but what could she do?

Yang quickly imposed her will, steadying her nerves in the blink of an eye as she looked to Winter. "Atlas are the only ones in the world with these flying warships. What the hell is going on here?"

"I cannot tell," Winter replied, looking back through the binoculars.

Along the length of the prow hatches opened slowly, matched pairs of canons rising from within.

"Cannons?" Blake asked, looking at Winter. “You have laser technology. Why bring back such an old weapon system?”

"The Kingdom of Vale have begun to develop and deploy Light Barrier technology. Dust shells can pass through a light barrier while laser fire cannot." Winter glanced at Blake, the Faunus looking at the elder Schnee sister in faint disgust. "Need I remind you Atlas and Vale are still technically at war?"

"All the resources Atlas has poured into weapons research could have gone into-"

Yang raised both her hands, deep down slightly surprised she was the cooler head for once. "Blake, I'm sorry, but both of you, now is not the time. Winter, who in the hell are these guys?"

"I can only make out the classes of ship. Two Jaeger-class destroyers and four Schwan-class escorts. What I cannot understand is why our own ships are attacking us." Winter clenched her teeth as more laser fire streaked past or impacted the light barrier. "Damn it, these binoculars are very good, but I cannot see anything else in this dim light."

"I can."

Yang looked at Blake, Winter lowering the binoculars and doing the same as the Faunus held her hand out past her Human lover.

"I had a feeling. Your bow does well. I could not be certain." Winter offered the binoculars. Blake took them and looked through them at the approaching ships.

"Well, what do you see with your night vision?"

"The ships are Atlesian gray and white and have Atlesian markings. The men and women on the command deck and observation deck are in Atlesian uniform."

"A coup?" Winter seemed to grow troubled. "I know many elements of the military did not wish for a cease fire, but they would never attempt such a thing. The rule of the Kingdom’s Council would not be challenged in such a fashion. Even the proudest Atlesian general or admiral would accept the will of the Council once he or she has been allowed to speak their peace. All high ranking officials who opposed the ceasefire were given such an opportunity."

Yang watched on as Blake seemed to focus on something.

"I can't be certain, but I think the entire crew on the bridge of the lead ship are Faunus. At least half of them have visible features."

"The Atlesian Military has Faunus members, but an entire command crew? Half would even be unheard of. Faunus, at best, make up ten percent of the military. We have been attempting to increase their participation in governance and the military, but we have only just begun such initiatives."

Blake shifted to another ship as more laser fire passed in the distance. "The second large ship is the same and the woman giving orders is wearing a black half-cape and a white and red mask."

The Faunus handed the binoculars back to Winter without looking at the Captain, her amber eyes narrowed and her expression sharp as she stared at the ships on the horizon.

"It’s the White Fang."

Yang took a deep breathe and placed her cybernetic hand on Blake's shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"But that is impossible." Winter shook her head. "Those are Atlesian ships. There is no way the White Fang could have seized that many. There is no way they would have had the skills... to... unless..."

Yang and Blake looked at Winter. Captain Schnee shook her head slowly, her expression growing angry.

"What?" Yang asked pointedly. "What is it?"

"Perhaps some those men and women are indeed Atlesian officers. Perhaps Atlas was not their first loyalty when they were given their commissions and sworn to defend Atlas and her people." Winter glowered at the ships, shaking her head. "If those ships are indeed in the hands of Faunus officers who have turned traitor to the White Fang I fear for the Human crewmembers."

"They are already dead," Blake stated coldly.

Yang squeezed Blake’s shoulder again as her purple eyes stared out to the horizon. Something told her today was going to be a very long day.

One of the crew came out of the bridge and pointed to the horizon beyond the enemy ships slowly closing on them. "Captain, we have approaching combat aircraft on radar! Their IFF identifies them as the part of the 5th Night Fighter Squadron. Perhaps high command is sending reinforcements, Ma'am? Eight fighter-bombers will certainly put the odds in our favor."

"Prepare point-defenses," Winter ordered calmly, looking through the binoculars once more. "Those aircraft are not reinforcements, ensign. They would not arrive so quickly. No offense intended Miss Belladonna, but the 5th Night Fighter Squadron is comprised entirely of Faunus pilots and weapons officers."

"For their night vision," Blake mumbled, seemingly lost in a daze as she nodded faintly.

"That squadron is twentyfour aircraft strong. How deep does this betrayal run?" Winter surveyed the enemy as more laser fire impacted their light barrier. "Soon the enemy will be in shell fire range. They have seized ships and likely turned at least a large portion of an entire squadron against their homeland. How could the White Fang have possibly managed such a feat?"

"Amongst Faunus, there is no middle ground anymore," Blake began, looking to Winter and Yang. "The White Fang's successes and actions in the past months have swayed more and more to their cause. Money is flowing into their coffers like never before and membership is at an all time high. I heard they were planning something, but I couldn’t be sure of what. I would never have imagined something like this. It would seem, under Adam's influence, the White Fang have become terrifyingly resourceful."

“How could you know even this?” Winter looked at Blake questioningly as the Faunus in turn broke eye contact with Captain Schnee and looked to Yang.

"We need to stop whatever is about to happen, Yang. This is big. I just know it."

Yang nodded once, trusting Blake’s instincts in regards to anything White Fang, and looked at Winter. "How can we help?"

"We must get inside first."

Winter motioned into the bridge, Blake going in and Yang following, looking over the railing and past the aft of the ship as the _Cloudrunner_ neared impact with the surface of the water far below. Yang stopped, watching the ship hit the ocean, sending up a white plume of sea water as it settled. The ship still burned and smoked aft, likely a few dozen trapped aboard the burning, sinking vessel.

This was indeed a war. It was indeed horrible.

Something in her wanted to go out and even the score.

"Miss Xiao Long, we are about to come shell fire and quite likely air attack. The bridge is armored and it shall be more secure within."

She nodded at Winter's suggestion and followed her inside. A crewman sealed the hatch to the observation deck behind them, Winter heading for her station as Yang and Blake stood aside near the armored glass.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the White Fang have seized Atlesian military assets and close on us in force."

Winter stepped up onto the commander's platform, gaining a vantage point on the entire bridge, her officers looking to her in the last moments of relative calm before the battle would begin in earnest. More than one was visibly a Faunus, yet the crew of the _Northern Light_ seemed united in their loyalty to Atlas.

Blake and Yang looked to her, Captain Schnee's blue gaze taking in the faces of her crew.

"Likely, many of the men and women we are about to face could once have been our comrades in arms and have been trained, as you have, in the art of modern war. As brothers and sisters in arms, Human and Faunus, we shall carry the day. We shall see this mission of peace to the safety of Atlas unharmed. Terror and treason shall not prevail so long as soldiers and officers of Atlas hold the line."

Winter saluted her officers, each one returning it in kind from their stations.

"In Septentrionali Regnum!"

"In Septentrionali Regnum!" her command crew repeated with gusto, Captain, officers and crew lowering their hands from salute in unison.

Yang looked at Blake, her lover seeing the question in her eyes. Blake mouthed to her 'For the Northern Throne'.

The crew turned back to their station, a single crewman with dark skin still looking at Winter from his console. She nodded at him, giving the man permission to speak.

"Weapons are online and ready, Ma'am. I have the line open and gunnery awaits only your command."

"Excellent. On my command, open fire on their escorts with lasers and their lead destroyer with cannons." Winter pulled her rapier and pointed it forward at the enemy in grand fashion that would not have been misplaced in the age of tall ships at sea. It drew a faint smirk from Yang; she liked Winter’s style.

"Give the _Northern Light_ 's fury voice! Open fire!"

Red laser bolts flashed out from the _Northern Light_ as the four pairs of cannons along the prow roared with white and red muzzle flashes, the enemy ships signatures taking evasive action on the large green and white sensor screen.

"Captain, two flights of the 5th Night Fighter Squadron have rallied near the enemy ships. I believe they are forming up for an attack."

"Inform Vapor flight to prepare for launch! They will be out-numbered, but will help even the odds against the enemy fighter-bombers"

"Aye-aye!"

Winter kept her rapier at her side and gestured to another crewman with her free left hand, a Faunus with light skin and a pair of stag horns. "Helmsman, set a course for Sector Bravo-One-One. We will link up with Patrol Fleet Lazuli there overseeing the sea shipping lane. A destroyer and two more escorts will put this battle well in our favor."

A freckled-faced lieutenant with bright red hair wearing a headset at another console glanced at Winter, her green eyes narrowed. "Captain, communication has come in from Patrol Fleet Lazuli. They have come under heavy air attack from a flight of the 5th Night Fighters and numerous Bullhead gunships. One of their escorts, the _Sparrowhawk_ is being boarded by the White Fang as I speak."

Winter seemed shocked. "What?!"

"The remaining two ships are making for the shore and the cover of friendly air power. The third will likely fall into enemy hands if not scuttled." She took a deep breathe, something coming over her headset. “The Skipper of the _Sparrowhawk_ has just given the order to send her ship into the water prow first, Ma’am.”

Blake covered her mouth as her eyes widened. She looked to Yang, the Human’s face stern. More than a few of the crew seemed troubled as well.

Winter shook her head. "Damn it! Helmsman, take evasive action!"

"Aye-Aye, Ma'am."

The large ship began to turn slowly to starboard as the Faunus helmsman turned the ship's polished wooden wheel.

"What of the _Cloudrunner_?" Winter inquired. "Their casualties?"

"They are attempting to shore up a number of holes, but she is taking on water quickly. Their casualties are heavy. All in aft engineering are believed dead due to the explosion. Their Skipper is dead as well, Ma'am. Killed in the initial barrage."

The _Northern Light’s_ cannons fired again, bright paired muzzle reports illuminated the bridge as the four sets of double cannons discharged. Glowing dust shells, white and red, streaked off at their foes in a growing spread. They flew past the lead destroyer as it evaded, only one slamming into the prow in an eruption of force and flame. The ship continued on undaunted, but now with a burning hole in its long prow.

"That's a good hit!" the dark-skinned weapons officer called out over his headset. "Tighten your spread one degree and keep on him, gunnery!"

"Incoming!" one of the crewmen shouted, a few rotary cannons on the prow flashing and turning slowly as delta-shaped fighter-bombers came in. Fire poured from the light rotary cannons of the enemy aircraft, strafing the prow of the _Northern Light_. One of the fighter-bombers was hit by the streams of tracers flying out from the point-defenses, smoke pouring from it as it peeled out of the formation.

The sparking strikes of the dust cannon shells walked up the prow. Winter motioned for Yang and Blake to step back as she raised her rapier.

"Everyone take cover! They attempt a decapitation!"

The bridge crew made themselves as small as they could at their stations. Winter threw a small glass vial from a pouch on her belt and moved her rapier with elegance and haste, the blade shattering the vial and filling the bridge with glittering Dust that she weaved into protective runes in connected circles along the front bridge glass with the movement of her blade.

The impacts reached the observation deck and blew the signal lamp off as well as wrenching the railing. The shells then hit the armored glass, sending cracks through some of the panes and shattering one. The rune barrier behind the shattered glass held out for a moment longer, but the second flight’s strafing overwhelmed it.

A light rotary cannon shell streaked into the bridge and impacted the bulkhead, sending shrapnel flying. Winter's Aura protected her from the scything metal, but a crewman at a console was hit through his far weaker Aura and knocked out of his seat. Blood quickly began staining his uniform's white tunic in several spots where the shrapnel had struck.

The wave passed quickly, everyone sitting back upright as the injured man screamed in agony. Two crewman ran onto the bridge and quickly grabbed the man, a third rushing to his now abandoned station as the rapidly bleeding man was carried away.

Yang's narrowed purple eyes and Blake's wide yellow followed the man out. The Faunus lingered on the hatch and the screaming while Yang's settled on the streak of blood on the deck where the wounded man was at first dragged before being carried.

Everyone had gone back to their duties, seemingly ignoring what had just happened. That crewman's wounds were likely fatal, yet the military officers and ship’s crew before Yang continued on with their duties. They were impressive in their calm collection. She took a deep breathe, maintaining her poise via her will in kind.

Nobody ever once told Yang war would be pretty. Adler was adamant it would not be.

"They are going around for another pass," one of the crew called out, a man with green hair and and a white eye patch. "Our fighter-bomber wing is launching now."

"I saw we hit an enemy fighter-bomber. Did we score a kill?" Winter asked plainly.

"No Ma’am. It looks to be damaged and disengaging from battle, however."

Winter shook her head. “Better than nothing.”

" _Riptide_ is coming closer alongside our port to provide additional point defense and _Maple Leaf_ is taking position to our aft and above to offer protection to our hangar doors," the redheaded lieutenant on communications called out. She suddenly seemed troubled by what was coming over her headset, covering the mouthpiece.

"Captain, _Cloudrunner_ reports they cannot save the ship and that their survival equipment is badly damaged. They are requesting rescue. What do I tell them, Ma'am?"

Winter's blue eyes narrowed as the _Northern Light’s_ cannons roared and flashed once again, firing another volley of white and red death. Laser bolts streaked out and passed the enemy escorts, the destroyers quick to change course and foil the shellfire.

"Our fighter-bombers will be outnumbered seven to four and will likely struggle to keep the enemy aircraft from shooting down our gunships. I will not halt for it will put the diplomatic mission at risk."

Winter took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She opened them, her resolve evident in her icy stare.

"Inform _Cloudrunner_ rescue is not practical at this time. Give them my prayers."

Yang watched the color leave the faces of some of the crew, but they did not cease their duties.

"Wait, what are you saying?" She stared at Winter in disbelief, expecting to have heard some brilliant plan on how to save those men and women in the freezing water below. She let her emotions through, if in a controlled fashion.

"You're going to abandon them?!"

"Do not question my command on my ship!" Winter shouted back. "My mission, first and foremost, is to see this diplomatic mission safely to Atlas. Nothing will come between me and my mission. Speak out of turn again and I will remove you from my bridge!"

Yang felt strong emotions churning against her will. She continued to just let fractions through. Enough to redden her irises and catch her hair alight golden.

"You are a Huntress! You can't let those people die!"

"I am a military officer and ship’s Captain as well. This is no time for childish sentiments! This is war!"

She took a deep breath and looked at Blake. The Faunus gazed into Yang's red eyes for a moment, her lips parting, but no words coming to her. Blake merely nodded once, seeing it written clearly on Yang's face and in her gaze. She had agreed to help the Human.

Yang looked back at Winter. "You're right. This isn't a time for sentiments of any kind. It's a time for action. Those fighter-bombers are stopping your from sending help to the _Cloudrunner_ , right?"

Winter glared at Yang, but did not speak. The cannons fired once more, laser fire and enemy cannon shells streaking by beyond the bridge's glass in kind.

Blake placed her hand on Yang's shoulder, silently offering her full support to whatever she decided to do. Yang knew war would be terrible and Winter had the training for it. Captain Schnee's logic was sound at heart. Yang understood where the woman was coming from and what obligations were upon her. The peace mission had to get through.

Still, something tugged at the edge of Yang's will. It was not childish hope nor was it an illusion that the 'good guys' could win the day simply because they were the 'good guys'.

What demanded action from Yang was that she was strong and those people in the water were weak. What compelled her was something she realized was always within her once she fully accepted the title of Huntress as part of the core of her being. It was something she admired others for, especially her parents, even her uncle and now her grandfather.

What she felt drove Pyrrha and Summer to do what they did those dark days.

Under Adler's tutelage it grew and witnessing him in battle and knowing his blood ran in her veins along with her father's and mother's only strengthened her belief in it. In Yang, deep down where the dragon dwelt, there was something she was suddenly fiercely aware of. Something no longer in fashion to the degree she now felt it.

Something that was, perhaps, always a part of who she was.

Honor.

"As a Huntress I cannot walk away from those in need." Yang looked Winter directly in the eyes. "Give me the diplomats' Bullhead. I will go knock every single fighter-bomber out of the sky or die trying so your gunships can get through."

Winter stared at her, sapphires looking into faintly smoldering rubies. "Are you mad? You likely cannot even fly it."

"I can and have flown a Bullhead," Blake seconded without hesitation, removing her bow from her hair and tucking it away, a few pairs of eyes being drawn to her cat ears. "As Huntresses of Vale we offer our services to you and the crew of the _Cloudrunner_ as a gesture of peace in hopes of helping to bring the conflict between our nations to an end. The White Fang is the common enemy of all peoples everywhere who hope for a world where Human and Faunus stand shoulder to shoulder."

"You are a Huntress and a military office. We are just Huntresses," Yang continued. "You have your obligations, but so do we. We can't stand by and let them die without trying. If you won't give us the Bullhead, then we'll just steal it. The last thing you need is us causing trouble on your ship, Captain Schnee."

"If you don’t want our offer then it would be wise to kick us off now before we cause trouble," Blake finished with a nod.

Yang deployed Inferno Celica for good measure, some side arms coming up and aiming at her and Blake. Part of her wanted to punish them for such an insult, but her will would not allow emotion to rule her. It would also be counter-productive. The real enemy was trying to kill them all. People’s lives were at stake, but she needed everyone to understand they were very serious.

Winter started at them, the bridge illuminating as the forward cannons roared once more. The _Northern Light_ rocked under incoming fire, enemy shells finally finding her. Winter looked to a member of the crew.

"Damage report!"

"Light damage forward, Ma'am!" one of the crew called out. "It's superficial. All systems normal, Captain!"

"What if I say no?" Winter replied darkly, glaring at them once more. Blake looked at Yang, a faint smirk gracing the Faunus’ lips as a few pistol hammers cocked back.

Yang's shadow shifted large and draconic as she smiled wide at Winter, her eyes and hair glowing brighter as she allowed a little more pain into her being. The venom of Seven Eyes began to faintly burn in her blood as her right arm ached where it connected to cybernetic.

" **Princess** ," Yang began, a bit of flame leaving her lips as she said the word and shook her head, "even if this is your ship and you have all these men and women ready to die and kill at your command, it's never smart to say 'no' to a dragon."

Winter's blue irises became small rings around slowly growing black pupils in the midst of widening white orbs. Her entire bridge crew seemed equally shocked, a few pistols suddenly shaking as everyone stared at Yang's shadow covering an entire half of the compartment.

Blake crossed her arms and lifted her chin, staring right at Captain Schnee along with Yang whose head lowered into a threatening glower. The ship’s point defenses lashed out as a pair of enemy fighter-bombers flashed past, likely repulsed from their gun run. Another pair of fighter-bombers chased after, likely a part of Vapor flight.

"What the hell are you?" Winter whispered, motioning for her crew to lower their weapons, but keeping her rapier up and at the ready.

Yang raised her arms outward, still grinning. Her shadow’s wings spread in response to her gesture.

"I am Yang Xaio Long. The most dangerous thing flying in these skies." She leaned forward a little, her eyes glowing brighter as a few embers wafted from her hair. “Now, Captain Winter Schnee, we really do want to help as much as possible so may we have the Bullhead? **Please**.”

She never thought using such a simple word would test her will so very much or enrage her so completely. However, Summer and Taiyang always taught Yang to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.

Winter blinked once, sheathed her sword and looked to her communications officer. “Inform the _Cloudrunner_ a rescue attempt is in the works. We must first sanitize the airspace of hostile strike craft. Inform the gunship crews to prepare for launch.”

Her blue gaze shifted back to Yang and Blake, both women standing tall and ready to act. Yang’s hair and eyes cooled, her gauntlets and greaves retracting.

“Go, take the Bullhead and get the hell off my ship!”

“Thank you,” Yang replied, both her and Blake nodding.

“You may not wish you did. I hope you two know what you are getting yourselves into!”


	22. Bumblebee

Neither of them had any clue what they had gotten themselves into.

The engines of the Bullhead screamed as it weaved through the sparse cloud deck above the raging battle below. Bright white tracers streaked past the aircraft as Blake pulled the Bullhead into a turn and rolling dive. Yang held on to an emergency handhold in the dropship's cabin as the world inverted and tumbled about her, the sea and sky changing places past the open doors of the aircraft.

A single fighter-bomber turned down into a dive and chased after them. Beneath the cloud deck White Fang fighter-bombers circled and turned with the mere four aircraft sent up by the _Northern Light_. It was a spectacle the likes of which had not been seen since the wood and canvas bi-planes and tri-planes of the late stages of the Great War.

For the first time in eight decades, fixed-wing aircraft engaged in combat with one another.

While the pilots sharing the sky with them had been trained for the possibility, Yang had no idea how she was going to pull off taking out such fast moving targets. Her original plan of opening fire out the doors of the Bullhead with Furiosa's advanced targeting system was a pipe dream. She could not track her targets fast enough over the necessary distances. Their Bullhead, while sporting the turbo-charged engines and advanced maneuverability of the ad-hoc Valen Air Force, lacked any kind of weapon systems.

It was, after all, a peace mission's transport craft.

The delta-shaped, two-seat aircraft chasing after them through the bright blue morning sky outclassed their Bullhead in every possible way with the exception of the ability to make very hard and sudden turns. Even still, Blake's skill as a pilot was limited. Once the fighter-bomber on their tail latched on she was completely unable to shake it.

Deep down, Yang was starting to worry. She kept the emotion at arm's length and looked into the cockpit, a headset on over her head. Over the single earphone she could hear the communications chatter of Vapor squadron. Their situation was not much better, the superior numbers of the enemy forcing them into a defensive posture.

"This was a really bad idea!"

"Are you sure?!" Blake shouted back, a similar headset over her head, the microphone in front of her lips. "I thought everything was going according to plan!"

"We need to get this guy off our ass!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?! Just hold on, I've got an idea!"

More tracers zipped past in the distance, just meters from the port engine housing. Blake pulled the controls to the right and dove the Bullhead down further, the transport streaking above the _Maple Leaf_. The escort's three point-defense rotary cannons tracked onto the fighter-bomber on their tail and span up, streams of white tracers flying out into the sky.

The fighter-bomber on their tail peeled off to evade the point-defense fire, giving Yang and Blake some breathing room. The Bullhead settled into a flat flight path away from the air battle.

"We need a better plan than shooting a gun out the door, Yang," Blake started again, a bit of calm returning to her tone. Her pale face had reddened a bit with the nearly three minutes of constant effort it had taken to keep them alive. Her chest rose and fell as she frantically looked out the cockpit for more attackers.

"They went right after us," Yang grumbled, glanced out the side of the Bullhead as the wind whipped by and fluttered her blonde hair and orange cape.

"They probably thought we were the diplomatic mission trying to make a run for it."

Yang glanced back at the front portion of the aircraft's hull and noted the large Seal of Vale painted on the side of the Bullhead. She sighed and shook her head.

"Huntresses," a calm female voice started over their headsets. "Huntresses in the Valen Bullhead. Do you read me, over?"

"This is Yang. Who is this?"

"Roger that," the female voice started again. "I am Flight Officer Estrella Del Norte, call sign Polaris. Please acknowledge this transmission, over."

Blake nodded. "This is Blake. Yang is riding in the back."

"Roger. Do you have a call sign I can use?"

Blake glanced back at Yang. The Faunus tilted her head, seemingly unsure how to answer that question. The human shrugged. She had no clue what to call themselves either.

"Um... Bumblebee," Blake replied, looking back forward. "Our call sign is Bumblebee."

Yang grinned from ear to ear. If not for her willpower, she would have laughed. Their team-attack name Ruby came up with was a good fit for a call sign to her mind. It was further fitting considering the lumbering nature of their aircraft when compared to what a fight-bomber could do. What amused Yang so, however, was the fact 'Bumblebee' was also Blake's safe word for when she let Yang go all out in the bedroom.

She decided, in spite of everything, a little laughter could not hurt. The Human indulged herself.

Blake rolled her eyes and sighed. "It's all I could think of. Give me a break."

Yang's purple eyes sparkled in the fleeting moment of levity. "Well, it is meant to be used in stressful situations when you can't think of anything else."

"Yang."

"Roger that, Bumblebee. Listen up. The _Cloudrunner_ is running out of time down there. Whatever brilliant plan you two have, now would be the time to put it into action. Vapor squadron is doing all they can, but they are fighting six to four and the seventh White Fang bandit is loitering just outside of point-defense range, likely waiting for you two or a rescue attempt."

"If we can keep the seventh distracted, can't the gunships launch?" Blake asked, turning the Bullhead back towards the Atlesian airships and the protection of their point-defenses.

"Negative. The White Fang air assets that attacked Patrol Fleet Lazuli are en-route as we speak. If you two are going to do something now would be the time. Otherwise, get the hell back to the _Northern Light_ before you two get killed. Over and out."

There was a pause and a crackle of static.

"Attention Vapor squadron and Bumblebee. Another flight of 5th Night Fighter Squadron along with almost half a dozen White Fang Bullheads are closing. ETA, 5 minutes. Maintain air cover as best you can. Polaris, over and out."

"Four more?" a young man's voice almost choked over the communication net.

"You've got to be kidding me!" a woman's voice stammered.

"Parrot, Sleet," another male voice, a bit deeper and evidently older, began. "Keep your bandits busy. Daffodil and I have the other four's attention. So long as the Fifth are tangled with us, the _Northern Light_ has a shot of making it through."

"Roger that Smoke," the young man, evidently Parrot, replied. "But-"

"No 'buts' pilot. Do your duty. Son of a-" The sound of a buzzing radarlock came over the communication net behind Smoke's voice. "Missile! Break right on my mark."

"Roger that!" a second female voice, apparently Daffodil, replied.

"Mark! Mark!"

Blake and Yang listened to Vapor squadron's struggles. The pilots remained most professional, but Yang could tell there was a slight hint of dread in the voices of the younger pilots. Things were quickly going from bad to worse.

"Yang, we are doing nobody any good out here," Blake started, her hand covering the microphone. "If we go for one of the enemy ships we can take out the crew and knock it out of the fight."

The Human silently cursed herself. After everything she had been through, Yang still took the first opportunity that presented itself to rush off and get in over her head. Only now, she had dragged Blake along for the ride. She wanted desperately to help the crew of the _Cloudrunner_ as well as Vapor flight, but she was next to useless in the cabin of the Bullhead.

However, even the slightest entertainment of the notion of quitting might as well have been ashes in Yang's mouth. That simply would not do. She would figure this one out somehow. The problem she ran into was trying to shoot back at the enemy fighter-bomber. The placement of the doors on the Bullhead, the wiping wind and the speed of the enemy aircraft's movement as well as the danger of it's forward-facing light cannon all made fighting from within the cabin of the Bullhead impossible.

Yang looked out at the sky and the passing ships, watching point-defense fire streak up at the enemy aircraft as they chased two of Vapor's fighter-bombers. Laser fire landed upon the light barrier of the _Northern Light_ as shells streaked past it. The _Riptide_ headed downward and away from the air command cruiser, dodging incoming laser beams.

The cold wind washed over Yang's skin and fluttered her hair. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her memories. She had trained with him, but did she have enough control for this?

Was her slowly forming notion even possible?

"Yang, what do you think?" Blake looked back at Yang, her yellow eyes showing a hint of concern. "I don't want to give up either, but if we can take down a ship or two's crew, we might be able to help the _Northern Light_ -"

"Blake, I need to get out of this thing."

The Faunus' eyes widened, her mouth hanging open. She glanced back forward and then at Yang again.

"I know what you are thinking. Are you sure your control over it is enough? I've seen you miss the target more than once. You did not train at it much with your father. You focused on hand-to-hand."

"No, but I trained at it every night in my mind," Yang replied calmly, looking at Blake, the clear blue sky and the raging battle beyond as the Bullhead slowly turned, keeping close to the ships. "I can't think of another way to stop these guys."

"Yang, it's a long way down if something goes wrong?"

She looked around herself at the frame of the Bullhead. "This thing is different?"

"ETA to enemy reinforcements, 4 minutes," Polaris called out calmly over the communication net. "Lazuli confirms, two fighter-bombers were armed for anti-shipping operations."

"Sure, why wouldn't they be?" Sleet snapped over the radio.

Blake kept looking into Yang's eyes. "Yang, I want you to be completely honest with me and yourself. Can you do this?"

Yang's purple eyes turned almost to lavender steel. She took every emotion out of her thought process and focused on what she knew she could do, what she thought she could do and what needed to be done. The only thing holding her back was leaving Blake behind in a glorified flying bus. The Human's eyes locked onto Blake, her emotions crying out to be heard.

"I'll be okay, Yang." Even through her completely calm exterior, Blake had a way of knowing. It was the hesitation. It had to be.

"Blake, we need to get close to that seventh plane. I need to be able to see it. I also need some speed."

The Faunus nodded and turned back forward. "Polaris, this is Bumblebee. We are going after the fighter-bomber staying back from the fight."

"Roger that, Bumblebee. I wish you luck."

Yang narrowed her eyes and took off the headset, hanging it on a safety hook. She deployed Inferno Celica and stood in the doorway, now looking forward as Blake brought the Bullhead around. The aircraft lurched, the supercharged engines screaming as it began to pick up speed.

Like a silver comet the Bullhead streaked away from the battle, the wind wiping past Yang's face and fluttering behind her cloak and mane. She narrowed her eyes and blocked the sting of them drying out. The Human Huntress focused, looking for her prey.

"They are coming around for us!" Blake called out. "I hope this works!"

Yang pulled upon her deep reservoir of pain, her body slowly lighting up with pain as the venom burned in her blood. Memories of failure and pain ran through her mind like a parade of despair. Her irises turned red as her hair caught golden glow. Her Semblance ramped up further as her lips parted, a long scream leaving her as the pain through her being grew more intense.

The red glow of Yang's irises quickly encompassed her entire eyeballs as her hair began trailing a host of embers and the faint licks of golden flame.

She caught sight of their enemy. The fighter-bomber was small on the horizon and closing quickly. Within seconds, it would attack them in passing. Though all her pain, the stinging wind and the roar of the engines Yang maintained her concentration. True to Adler's claim, Yang found her willpower an unassailable fortress. The very eye of a whirling storm.

Only one emotion remained in the eye. Only one concern weighed upon Yang that she did not have the desire to block out.

"Yang, you have to do this!" Blake shouted.

Yang's cybernetic hand held tighter on the handhold as she pushed herself further forward out of the cabin. The steel slowly crushed in her grip. She did not want to leave Blake behind. She could not bring herself to do it.

"I'll be okay! You can't hold yourself back for me!"

The Human screamed in pained, furious rage. She further crushed the steel in her metallic hand, leaning just a little farther forward, but still not able to take the mental step.

The fighter-bomber grew larger and the flash of its rotary cannon began. Tracers flew past the Bullhead, perhaps a second or two before their aim corrected onto the dropship.

" **YANG!** "

She shut down all emotion, the pain of her decision further fueling her Semblance. A burst of flame filled the cabin of the Bullhead.

Yang appeared from another burst of fire ahead of and just off the fighter-bomber, the large delta-shaped military aircraft approaching. She got a good look at the plane’s two-seat cockpit, single underside air intake and the vertical stabilizer fin at the rear above the engine’s exhaust port.

Screaming at the top of her lungs, her cybernetic hand lashed downward in a punch as the enemy aircraft closed on her and began to pass, Eternal Survivor springing outward in a black flash. The sound of metal digging into metal was washed out immediately along with Yang’s screech by the scream of a jet engine as Yang's blade cut into the fighter-bomber's aluminum left wing.

Her fist impacted the skin of the aircraft and Aura won over metal, the wing further deforming in the fraction of a second encounter. Inferno Celica's bark was completely overwhelmed by the roaring engine. Yang watched flaming buckshot slam into the compromised wing as she retracted her blade.

As she watched the tail fin pass Yang noted the White Fang emblem spray painted in red over the Atlesian emblem. Before she reached the engine's murderous afterburner flame and jet wash she vanished into another blast of fire.

Yang reappeared further ahead, stilling moving in her original direction, and watched as the fighter-bomber's wing caught flame where she attacked it. The aircraft seemed to lose a little altitude and a second later an explosion erupted. The left wing shattered to pieces and the fighter-bomber pitched over to it's left in a roll, quickly going out of control on a trail of fire and smoke as it dove towards the ocean far below.

Her mouth snapped shut and Yang rolled as she cruised through the air, falling rapidly, but still moving forward on the borrowed inertia from the Bullhead. She caught sight of Blake's aircraft as it continue forward. Yang concentrated and teleported once more, growing closer to the Bullhead.

She vanished into flame again and came alongside the dropship. Blake's gaze snapped into her direction in time to see another blast of fire.

Yang appeared from flames within the cabin of the Bullhead and slammed into the floor chest and face first, her boots landing upon the back wall of the cabin as she was caught by the faster moving aircraft.

"Are you alright?!" Blake shouted back into the cabin, her amber eyes massive.

The Human got to her feet, the pain of her 'landing' negligible even without her will. She did not lose much speed compared to the Bullhead and as such did not get hit by it too hard. Yang stood tall within the cabin, a couple of pieces of fabric netting holding emergency supplies wafting smoke from very short lived embers from her fiery arrival.

"I got him," Yang stated calmly, her emotions blocked. She blinked twice, the glow of her eyes still present behind closed eyelids as she did so. A smile formed on her face as some of the excitement was allowed through.

"I got that son of a bitch!!"

Blake nodded and looked back forward. "Polaris, this is Bumblebee. We got one."

Yang grabbed the headset from the safety hook and held the earphone to her left ear.

"Confirmed!" Polaris called out over the communication net as Yang tossed the crushed metal handhold in her cybernetic out of the Bullhead "Scratch one, Bumblebee. How did you two manage that?"

Blake glanced back at her partner and smiled, Yang returning it with wide, entirely red glowing eyes. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

The Human deployed her sword and started at it in a bit of astonishment. The entire blade was glowing faintly from the heat of friction. However, her metallic arm did not seem the least bit damaged and she could not detect any pain from where the interface port was grafted to her body.

Yang knew her Aura was very strong now and that Atlas designed their combat cybernetics to allow the user to channel Aura into the prosthetic. Still, she could hardly believe her cybernetic was strong enough to allow her to cut and punch an aircraft in what amounted to a mid-air head on collision at hundreds of kilometers per hour.

"You think you can do that again, sunshine?"

She looked back to Blake and retracted Eternal Survivor, her hair casting embers and filling the cabin with a golden glow. "I still can't believe I did it once."

Blake's eyes narrowed as her grin widened. She looked back forward and began bringing the Bullhead around. "Vapor flight, this is Bumblebee. We are coming back to join you."

"This is Vapor One, call sign Smoke," their flight lead called out. "How in the world did you two score a kill in that bus?"

"Don't worry about it," Yang started, holding the headset so that the microphone was in front of her face. "We are going to even up the odds so the gunships can go get the crew of the _Cloudrunner_."

"Well, we sure will appreciate the help," Smoke responded. "Okay everybody, form on me. We are going to let these ladies handle some of these bandits for us. Make sure to keep your six clear and follow my lead! We’re the bait."

"Roger that Smoke," Parrot replied. "Let's go Vapor Four."

Yang hung the headset back up and took her place in the open door, once more looking forward. She kept her lips pressed together, but smiled wide with glowing red eyes. The engines throttled up once more as she pulled Furiosa and held it at the ready.

Blake and Yang hurtled back towards the fray above the airships. The _Northern Light_ had a few burning shell impacts along its starboard, but otherwise it was still in good shape. The _Riptide_ was back alongside it and the _Maple Leaf_ had dropped further back. In the distance, the White Fang airships were close enough individual weapon reports were visible to Yang's naked eye.

One of the destroyers was smoking at the prow from what appeared to be multiple shell impacts, but was otherwise still in fighting shape. Its three single-mounted Dust shell cannons fired in volley, sending shells streaking towards the _Northern Light_. Two overshot the large airship, but one impacted near the rear in a burst of fire and metal fragments, adding a new hole to the air command cruiser.

"We're coming at them fast Yang! Get ready! I know you can do it again!"

Even through all her will, Blake's encouragement put a little warmth in her heart to accompany the burn of Seven Eye's venom. Yang nodded as she made out the shape of enemy fighter-bombers and shifted her concentration on how she would attack. She saw an opening as two White Fang aircraft turned onto the tails of Vapor flight who was in turn heading away and to the left in a finger four formation.

She rolled out of the Bullhead into the open air trailing her cape and glowing hair, for a second enjoying the feeling of 'flying'. Yang vanished in a blast of flame and emerged from another. Looking skyward as she flew through the sky she raised her revolver, her finger holding the trigger as her left hand hovered over Furiosa's hammer.

She fanned the hammer as a fighter-bomber passed roughly thirty meters overhead. The first round was too early and the third too late, but the second bark of flame was accompanied by the spark of metal on metal as the round struck home. A split-second later the relatively small hole on the bottom of the fighter-bomber erupted into flame and the aluminum skin began to deform.

Yang rolled using her left arm as an airbrake and holstered Furiosa. Behind her the fighter-bomber's jet engine shredded to pieces and drops of bright red lava dripped from the plane as her special homemade 'Volcano Round' round went to work. She zipped on through the air trailing her cape, still carried at high speed by inertia.

The fighter-bomber she shot exploded into a fireball in mid-air and sent pieces of shrapnel flying and falling. Yang narrowed her eyes and teleported through flame further away and ahead of the next oncoming fighter-bomber. She passed over the second aircraft, too high and too fast to react as it opened fire on the trailing member of Vapor flight.

While her control had indeed improved, Yang knew she was unable to change her direction of movement via teleportation. She began to lose altitude as she started to descend in a dive, her arms at her sides. She looked at where she wanted to teleport to and concentrated, holding out her left arm and using it once more as a drag. Her direction of travel began to change as she slowly turned left.

Yang tucked in her arm, disappeared into a flash of flame and emerged, more or less where she wanted to above and ahead of the fighter-bomber. She deployed Eternal Survivor, slammed to a landing on top of the enemy aircraft boots-first and plunged her blade into the aircraft in the same motion, twisting it to lock it in place, her cape and glowing hair flowing above and behind her in the high winds.

The flight officer sitting in the back seat of the fighter-bomber looked up to find Yang's glowing, solid red eyes staring back at her tinted helmet visor. Yang felt the passing air battering her slowly backward, the aircraft's skin tearing around her sideways blade as she slid. The flight officer seemed to panic, likely unable to believe what she was seeing.

Yang punched her left fist into the top of the fighter-bomber repeatedly, Inferno Celica barking flame and the aluminum skin deforming under the blows. The flaming Dust buckshot tore into aircraft and likely wrought havoc on the systems within.

The fighter-bomber pitched over, the pilot likely attempting to dislodge Yang. She noticed smoke wafting from under the mangled skin where she assaulted the aircraft and put one more punch and shotgun blast into the craft for good measure.

She teleported away far above the aircraft and went tumbling. Yang retracted her blade and regained control of her fall as she watched the fight-bomber continue to roll, more and more smoke pouring from the damage she had done. Flames began licking out from damaged area.

The aircraft leveled off and the canopy flew from it. The flight officer ejected first on a seat trailing white smoke, the pilot following her out of the stricken aircraft seconds later. Their parachutes opened as the fighter-bomber continued on.

A few seconds later it exploded in a ball of flame.

Yang dove down past the slowly descending pilot and flight officer and searched the sky, looking for another opponent. Instead, she found the Bullhead. Using her right arm, she changed her direction and leveled out of her forty-five degree dive and teleported, re-appearing above and ahead of the Bullhead as it continued on at high speed. She teleported again and again, staying ahead of and above the aircraft.

In a way, she was approximating flying.

She looked down at the ocean below and watched her shadow skim over the waves massive, wings opened in flight and trailing a long tail.

Yang smiled at the sight and watched as the Bullhead moved under her, Blake looking up at her through the windscreen. The Faunus motioned to her to come in. The Bullhead pitched over onto it's side, giving Yang a clear shot at the cabin. She teleported again and emerged from a burst of flames within once more.

The Human almost fell through, but the aircraft leveled off and Yang instead slammed into the cabin floor again, this time much harder as the difference in her speed and the aircraft's was much more pronounced. A bit of pain filled her chest and legs, but she got back up once more and smiled at Blake, simply ignoring the discomfort. Nothing was broken, that much she knew.

“Are you okay Yang?”

She waved off Blake’s concerned, though still appreciated it. "I feel great. I got two more."

"You might want to listen in on the radio. You’ll get a kick out of it," Blake replied as the Bullhead's engines powered up and it began to climb. In the distance she could see the _Northern Light_ and her escorts still fighting it out with the White Fang fleet.

Yang picked up the headset once more and put it on.

"-seconds! I repeat, enemy reinforcements ETA is 90 seconds!" Polaris called out. "Bumblebee, Vapor flight confirms two bandits down. Sleet swears up and down she saw someone in an orange cape land on one of the enemy aircraft and punch it! What the hell is going on up there?"

Blake smirked at Yang and covered the microphone. "You should have heard them losing their minds when you were doing you thing, sunshine. I think your secret is out."

“I’m telling you,” Sleet started, her voice filled with excitement, “I saw someone _land_ on the bandit behind me and punch a hole into it!”

Yang smiled back wide. "Polaris, this is Bumblebee. We are moving to intercept the enemy reinforcements. If Vapor has the other four under control, now would be a good time to launch the gunships."

"I can't argue with three kills. Roger that Bumblebee, launching rescue mission now. Vapor flight and Bumblebee, maintain the airspace. The gunship pilots are counting on all of you.”

“We won’t let them down.”

“Bumblebee, I have to know!” Sleet continued. “Was that one of you who took out that bandit on my six?!”

“Sleet,” Smoke began, “take it easy, we are getting ready to merge with enemy-”

“Yes it was,” Yang answered unashamedly. “You owe me a few drinks, Sleet.”

The communication net crackled to life, but nothing came over it for a few seconds. Finally, someone spoke up.

“I did see someone flying out there..." Daffodil half-whispered. “What the heck do they teach Huntresses down in Vale to be able to do that?”

Yang smirked at Blake, the Faunus shrugged back.

“Bees don’t need an aircraft to fly. They are naturals at it. Bumblebee, over and out.”

Blake laughed faintly as she looked over a few of the instruments. She nodded, glanced back up at Yang, leaned up from her seat and gave the Human a peck on the cheek. Yang touched her face and smirked, her solid red eyes showing a bit of happiness in spite of their current, all-encompassing coloration.

"For luck, you silly little dragon."

Yang leaned down and pecked Blake on the cheek, her glowing golden hair falling around the Faunus' face and showering her with harmless embers. "Stay safe, kitty cat."

"Are you kidding. For a bus, this thing handles pretty well.” Blake covered the microphone of her headset. “This thing is a long way from the Bullheads I used to fly in the White Fang. It can move when it needs to.”

Yang laughed, figuring that was where Blake learned to fly a Bullhead.

Blake took her hand from the microphone and flipped a switch on the side, turning it off. “Anyways, I'm not the one falling at high speeds and shooting, stabbing and punching combat planes, Yang."

When Blake put it like that, Yang realized the insanity of what she was doing. Then again, she had fought Seven Eyes in the Valley of the Kings, her shadow was a dragon and her 127 year old grandfather looked like he could be her father. What was a little teleporting around and punching of airplanes compared to all that?

Some days, Yang really did wonder if she was still witnessing the last bits of her imagination firing off as she laid dying at Beacon Academy or in the northern fields of Patch. She leaned int close to Blake and looked forward out the windshield, seeing nothing but clear sky, the battle behind them.

“Hey Blake, you ever wonder if these past few months have been a dream?”

“Once in awhile. Then I touch your skin and you don’t disappear, Yang.”

Yang smiled wide, leaned back into the cockpit and kissed Blake on top of her head. “You keep the good luck. I got this, kitten.”

“This is really sweet and all, but one of your channels is still open Bumblebee,” Polaris chided.

“Don’t Polaris, it makes for a good radio drama,” Smoke added, the sound of a buzzing radarlock in the background. “I’ve got good tone! FOX-2! FOX-2!”

“Bandit hit and going down!” Daffodil called out. “Scratch one for Vapor!”

Blake glanced back at Yang, blushing. She pointed at the Human’s headset. “It’s open.”

“Yeah, well we have three kills. That’s the power of love.”

Sleet and Parrot laughed over the communication net. Polaris sighed.

“Bumblebee, out.”

Yang clicked off the microphone as she removed her headset, hung it up and prepared to go out for another 'flight'. She leaned out of the cabin and felt the wind over her body once again, the Bullhead picking up speed.

“They are closing fast! Ready to peel off once you go!” Blake called out. Indeed, Yang could see faint dots on the horizon.

Yang rolled free, closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of flying for a few seconds, smiling faintly. Deep down, the sensation of the cold northern air rushing past her and the sense of weightlessness felt _right_. It occurred to her skydiving was probably an excellent hobby.

Her smile shifted to a scowl as Yang opened her glowing red eyes and focused on her first target. She teleported towards her numerous enemies as Blake’s Bullhead pulled off and away.

Yang would make the White Fang realize they had made a truly grave mistake to fly in the same skies as a dragon.


	23. What Do I Tell Your Father

Weiss Schnee looked over the breakfast preparations in the penthouse of Schnee Dust Corporation World Headquarters in the heart of the capital city of Atlas. She glided about the dining room in heels clicking on grey marble in her blue dress and light blue sash, the sapphire of her neckpiece almost glowing in the morning light.

The sun shone bright through the large window overlooking the impressive skyline of gleaming buildings, the sky above a beautiful blue lined across with sparse cirrus clouds. Further in the distance splayed out the glittering northern ocean dividing Atlas from Vale.

Female servants in impeccable black and white maid outfits and men in equally immaculate black suits and ties went too and fro, bringing plates, platters of food and silverware. The dining room was the height of opulence. The table was made of a rare, polished hardwood inlaid with silver. The dining cloth was white silk, the fixtures polished silver and fresh white and blue flowers adorned the spread.

The smell of a breakfast fit for dignitaries filled the dining room as it was being prepared in the kitchen, the scent of eggs cooking, artisan breads toasting and various delectable meats simmering. Her father had spared not one expense. Weiss could feel her mouth watering at the thought of having a little more of the fresh fruit and fine yogurt imported from Mistral at great cost.

The finer, fresher foods had to be smuggled in, the war and increased Grimm activity the world over straining trade relationships.

Schnee Dust Corporation World Headquarters would be the surprise first stop for the emissaries from Vale. It would not be right to discuss anything without first treating these guests of Atlas to fine hospitality and the penthouse the Schnee family occasionally called home was not lacking for amenities and impressive decor. It made for an excellent diplomatic statement as well. A warm welcome in one of the greatest symbols of Atlesian wealth and power.

The meal was her own suggestion. Originally, the General and her father planned on getting right to business in some meeting room decorated with flags, all pomp and circumstance.

Weiss' time with her friends at Beacon, living a more simple life, showed her a new way. She understood people from Vale appreciated a simple, friendly meal. They were not so uptight as the leadership of Atlas. Her father, oddly, heard her out. More surprisingly, he agreed to her proposal and talked the Atlesian leadership into it

Later, they would meet General Ironwood and her father as well as other high-level government officials at the Parliament Building.

Beyond belief, her father even excused her from the meal so that she could entertain her friends in a more personal setting. She did not ask for such permission, as hopeful as the next person the war could be brought to an end.

Still, she would rather have a smaller meal in the breakfast nook with her friends. They would be having waffles, fresh fruit and yogurt. Weiss was not about to let all that expensive fruit get away from her. It was delicious, the Heiress sneaking a strawberry here and there whenever she passed the silver platter of them.

The maids did not make eye contact when she pilfered a piece of fruit or dipped a spoon into some yogurt. The old Head Maid, her blonde hair long faded to greyish-cornsilk, would even smile warmly and offer another peace or couple of strawberries without a word.

In some ways Daisy was closer to Weiss than her own father. She and many of the older servants were always there for her. She did not always appreciate that, but now, having had many friends and then having them taken from her, Weiss very much appreciated those close to her.

The Heiress picked up a crystal glass and looked upon it with disdain. "Orange juice from a wine glass. Father, this is not appropriate. Take these away. Bring out standard glasses."

A young blonde maid stopped, the closest servant always having to be the one to respond to a Schnee’s order. "But Miss Schnee, if I may, your father-"

"These are for wine. Take them away. Bring out standard glasses. However, make certain they are crystal. The set etched with scenes of Atlas' beautiful northern wild lands will do best. Practical, yet still elegant. My father understands elegant. I will work on his sense of practicality."

The maid bowed, everyone understanding this was Weiss’ idea in the end. "Yes Miss Schnee."

The maid motioned for help, another servant joining her in picking up the glasses and taking them away. Weiss glided gracefully along in her long blue dress and past the platter of strawberries, her dainty fingers plucking another small, ripe red fruit and pressing it past her lips.

They were simply delicious. She had grown weary of preserved fruits from cans. For all she had changed, Weiss was still a woman who enjoyed the lap of luxury. All she ever wanted was to not be beholden to her father to have a good life.

Becoming a Huntress was not only a way to gain distance from him, it was a strong avenue to independence. There was always call for the services of a Huntress. They rarely ate so well as the meal being prepared that morning, but they almost never went hungry for long.

Though she had been taken from Vale and brought home by her father, she refused to abandon her aspirations to become a Huntress. A compromise was reached between father and daughter. She would stay home in his sight, but she would still train and one day leave to undertake her career. As such, Weiss had trained with some of the finest fencing instructors and Dust manipulators her father could afford in the past months.

He had, in some small way, accepted that his little girl sleeping on the ground, eating rations in the field and hunting dangerous Grimm or bandits was her chosen path in life. Studying to be a Huntress at Beacon was likely the best time of her life thus far. Weiss would enjoy the fruits of wealth when she could, but always reminded herself a simple meal paid for from her own pocket was superior to the finest foods in the world provided by her father.

Still, that fact did not make the strawberry she so dainty chewed taste any less sweet.

Daisy smiled at her as she passed, the older maid going about the table and inspecting it with her bespectacled blue eyes, making absolutely certain everything was perfect.

A young man with lightly tanned skin and green hair in a white Atlesian military uniform walked into the dining hall at a fast clip and up to Weiss. She recognized his single silver bar marked him as a lieutenant. The Heiress wondered if he had been sent ahead with some dignitary to greet the envoys from Atlas or if perhaps General Ironwood himself might attend.

"Miss Schnee, may I have a word?"

Weiss glanced at him. "I am sorry, I do not believe we have been introduced.”

“My apologies, ma’am.” The young junior officer held his right arm away at his side and folded his left across his chest as he slightly bowed his head. “Lieutenant Hideo Midori, at your service.”

Weiss offered her dainty right hand and Lieutenant Midori did not miss a beat, taking it gently in his right hand and kissing it in a peck. While they were not nobility per-se, the Schnee family was likely the closest thing to it in the world and most certainly in Atlas.

While not training to be or working as a Huntress she expected to be treated like a lady.

“Shall General Ironwood be attending the meal? If so, I shall consult with David and have the General’s favorite liquor ready for his coffee.”

Lieutenant Midori shook his head. "That is not the nature of my visit, Miss Schnee. Could we perhaps discuss something in private?"

Weiss sighed, figuring it was some last minute request. "Very well. Follow me."

She walked away from the table and past the servants picking up the wine glasses, the junior officer following her. They passed into another room off the side of the dining hall. It was a small smoking den, well adorned with polished wooden shelves and tables, the red leather chairs and the carpet of the room permeated with the faint hint of tobacco. A number of fine humidors rested on one of the tables across the room, each filled with very expensive cigars imported from all over the world. Or rather now, smuggled in.

Above the humidors hung a painting of a pale-skinned, blue-eyed woman woman in fine white and blue clothing and covered in masterfully crafted platinum and sapphire jewelry. Her figure resembled Winter’s far more than Weiss’. If one did not know better, and judging by the almost tiara-like piece glittering with diamonds atop her head of long white hair, she could have been easily mistaken for a duchess or even a queen from before the Great War.

‘Nana’ Schnee was once a very beautiful woman indeed. Weiss fought the urge to touch the scar upon her face, pushing any feelings of inadequacy when compared to her grandmother in her prime aside. She looked to the officer, the young man standing up perfectly straight near the door. He moved to close the door and Weiss shook her head.

She had come to learn an open door deterred prying ears more than a closed door. With a glance, one could ascertain there was no eavesdropping occurring.

"So, what is so important to pull me aside from my work, Lieutenant Midori?"

"I apologize Miss Schnee, but I bring grave news from High Command.” He glanced out the door and nodded, looking back to Weiss. “The _Northern Light_ has come under attack."

The Heiress felt her blood run cold. Inside, she immediately began to worry about Winter as well as Yang and Blake. The peace mission was almost an afterthought, but quickly it came to the fore in her mind as well.

She stayed composed.

"Are these reports confirmed?"

The Lieutenant shook his head. "Officially, no. Unofficially, which is why this requires privacy, one escort ship has already been lost. The Northern Light is under heavy attack and, from what we can tell, it is by treasonous elements of the Atlesian military along with the White Fang."

Weiss could not believe what she was hearing. "That's impossible."

"Miss Schnee, a small air fleet patrol over sea shipping lanes also came under attack. According to the last transmissions from the Northern Light, the assailants are airships and fighter-bombers of Atlesian make. All are operated by Faunus."

The officer gestured to Weiss as disbelief began to cede to deep worry in her heart.

"General Ironwood also ordered me to inform you that contact has been lost with other forces around the continent as well. Hunter teams and military patrols have been dispatched to determine the cause. He and your father, as well as the rest of the Atlesian delegation, are going to remain in their secure location for the time being. I have been asked to escort you to a waiting gunship. Your father wishes for you to be relocated to-"

A resounding, thunderous boom sounded from far below, the very building shaking and the lights flickering off for a few moments, dust slowly raining down from the now cracked ceiling over their head. Some of the maids in the next room screamed, Weiss managing to keep her footing and the officer stumbling into a table and steadying himself.

"What the hell was that?!" the officer shouted as the building seemed to settle.

Weiss walked back out of the room, the banquet table a mess of knocked-over glasses and spilled fruit. Many of the plates and silverware had slid off along with some of the platters of food. Some of the chairs were knocked over, a maid sitting on the marble floor clutching a bloody knee as another assisted her. She had apparently fallen onto the glasses being brought in or taken away.

Some of the kitchen staff came into the dining hall. Everyone's expression was confusion.

Smoke began to rise outside the large window facing the south, the windows of other towers cracked or even shattered by the shockwave of what had just occurred far below. Fire alarms began to sound.

Something was very wrong. Every pair of eyes fell on Weiss.

"I will get to the bottom of this."

She took a deep breathe and walked to a view screen, placing her scroll in a slot on it. The Heiress brought up the security desk immediately, being greeted by a static-filled screen that went in and out. The security officer on duty was not at his or her desk. In the background security officers were running back and forth in a panic, some arming themselves with rifles while others pulled side arms or swords.

There was muffled shouting and not long after, muffled gunfire. A few of the maids screamed, Weiss raising her hand sharply and silently calling for calm.

Weiss narrowed her eyes, entered an override code and pulled up the security cameras. The first few were gone, merely black feeds, but she finally got a few on the first floor that were still working properly.

Her blood froze at what she saw, one of the maids fainting behind her and being caught by a male servant.

Schnee Security Solutions, her father’s personal security force raised in the wake of numerous White Fang raids,was in a pitched battle on the utterly ruined first floor. All the glass was blown out, bodies and bloody pieces of them strewn across the tile as fires burned.

The opponents of the security forces were dressed in black and white uniforms, all wearing masks and many sporting Faunus features.

Weiss sneered, glancing back at the staff of her family's penthouse, seeing the fear in their eyes. She looked back in time to witness a White Fang fighter cut down a security officer and then pull a pistol and shoot a wounded survivor dragging himself away from the fray.

The survivor appeared to be nothing more than a simple white collar employee of the Schnee Dust Corporation. In the background, faintly over the damaged microphone on the camera, pleas for help were faintly audible.

Some of the maids screamed again. Daisy grabbed the small silver cross around her neck and clenched it, muttering prayers to the Sacrificed under her breathe as she lowered her head and closed her eyes. Weiss had only ever seen Daisy do that once before.

The night her mother passed away.

"Lieutenant," Weiss started darkly, taking her scroll back and the screen going dark. She looked at the junior officer, his green eyes hard. She expected it of him. He was a man trained to take action and face danger.

What did grace his face was a bit of surprise. His hard emerald stare softened as it met met the blazing sapphires of the Heiress.

"You have a gunship, yes?"

He nodded sharply. "Two. I need to get you-"

"You will take the household staff to the landing pad and evacuate them from this place immediately."

Weiss turned sharply and walked away.

"Miss Schnee," the Lieutenant started again, following after her as she set off for her room. "Miss Schnee! The White Fang have just bombed this building and are currently overwhelming the security forces! Ma’am, you must obey the wishes of the General and your father and come with me!"

Weiss continued on down the hall and opened the door to her room, a large, nicely furnished room of fine dark hardwoods, white and blue linens and a large blue and white rug in the midst of the hardwood floor. The walls were covered in fine paintings of landscapes that would not be misplaced in a museum. She walked past the bed covered in stuffed animals to a large wooden wardrobe.

"Miss Schnee, please!"

The Heiress turned, staring the Lieutenant down as she opened the wardrobe, inside her blue and white combat dress complete with battle skirt, boots and sash. Hanging next to it was Myrtenaster, vials of dust standing in a wood and fabric holder on the shelf below. Weiss unclasped the neck peice of her long blue dress and began undoing the buttons on the sleeves.

"If you insist on continuing to appeal to my sense of obedience to my father or General Ironwood, I would ask you avert your eyes. I am not properly attired for battle and must change at once. If you stare, I will slap you once I am done."

Lieutenant Midori turned in place, but did not go. "Miss Schnee, please. If I don't take you from here right now the General will have me hung if your father does not kill me first."

"If you do not take the servants of this household from this place to safety at once I will throw you from a window." Her dress sailed past the officer, landing on the floor. "There, now no matter what happens, a Schnee will end your life. Now, the most sensible option is the one that allows you stay alive longest. Now get out of my room, gather the servants and prepare to go to the roof."

The junior officer nodded and left her room, closing the door behind him without looking back.

Weiss pulled on her combat dress and rapidly went through the various buttons and buckles, clasping, closing and tightening as needed. She took the boots, sat on a small chair by the wardrobe and pulled them on one at a time. Within two minutes, she was dressed and ready, her belt loaded with dust vials. She stuffed a few spare vials of dust into a pouch on her belt and pulled her rapier from the wardrobe, placing it through her sash.

She turned and headed for the door, but paused for a moment, lingering on a photograph framed beside it. A picture of her, Ruby, Blake and Yang in their Beacon uniforms stared back. She smiled at her friends, calmed some of the fear in her heart, took a deep breath and nodded.

She steeled herself to face others once again. To keep the family face strong in the face of those who relied upon them.

The Heiress left her room and marched into the midst of the penthouse, finding a security officer and a force of four Atlesian Knight 200s in the large room. The security officer, a tall woman with dark skin and long red-streaked black hair walked up to her immediately.

"Miss Schnee, we must evacuate you-"

"As the only member of the Schnee family here, I am in command of this situation. You will take the servants to the roof with Lieutenant Midori and evacuate them and yourselves." Weiss walked right past the imposing woman to her complement of Knights. "You four are with me. My face is my override code if you must have one."

One of the robotic soldiers glanced at her, a set of red biometric lasers tracing Weiss' face. It nodded in acknowledgment. The security officer stared on in stunned silence as the Lieutenant came up alongside her.

Weiss pushed the button for the elevator and looked back. The security guard, the junior officer and her family's servants were gathered behind her, the injured maid being assisted by two male servants.

Her expression was stern, likely aided by her scar. The elevator opened, Weiss walking in and the four AT-200s forming a square around her as a retinue.

Daisy began to weep as she continued to pray and the old, ebony-skinned butler David Karmozijn stood up straight and tall as his lower lip quivered. These two had seen her grow from infant to the young woman she was today. She could see the pride in the old man's brown eyes and hear the fear in the older woman's sobs as she beseeched the Sacrificed protect Weiss. The younger maids tried to comfort her, but to no avail.

Weiss held on hard to her expression and straight posture. She was deeply worried for her sister and her friends. She wanted to hug Daisy and maybe shake David’s hand before she went. His stories about his time as a Hunter were one of the reasons she chose the life she did. The man stood tall on two cybernetic legs hidden by his well tailored slate-grey trousers.

He had paid a high price to keep good people safe. Now it was her generation’s turn to, as the old butler put, ‘walk the line’.

Lieutenant Midori took a step forward. "What do I tell your father Miss Schnee?"

Weiss continued to hold her head high, Myrtenaster at her side. She pushed the button for the fortieth floor, the lowest floor the penthouse elevator could reach. She would have to find a way down further from there, but luckily, she had every override she could want on her scroll.

"Tell Father that I am a Huntress and that a Huntress does not run from cries for help. She runs towards them."

The elevator doors closed.


	24. Angry Sky

Yang hurtled through the sky like an orange and golden meteor trailing cape and embers from her mane. Around her both above and below the air battle raged. Two fighter-bombers of Vapor squadron streaked by well above, the lead craft of the pair opening fire on a White Fang fighter-bomber with its light rotary cannon. In the distance a White Fang Bullhead spiraled downward, leaving thick black smoke in its wake as the other element of Vapor scored the flight's fourth victory.

The Huntress kept her eyes on the prize in occasional glances upward. She was not heading for her target. She was building up speed. As the fighter-bomber turned into the pair of Vapor flight aircraft that passed her she vanished into a blast of flame. Yang reappeared above and ahead of her quarry.

She deployed Eternal Survivor and lashed out the blade as she rocketed towards the screaming fighter-bomber. Her sword cut through the leading edge of the starboard wing of the craft in a shower of aluminum fragments.

Yang teleported again into roughly the same attack vector and assaulted the craft's damaged delta wing again. Her blade, strengthened with the backing of Aura, carved another slash alongside the first as it began to widen and tear from the speed of the air passing over it.

The Huntress flew on past her foe, the wing barely missing clipping her boots. The craft's wing began to shed more and more fragments as it wobbled. The White Fang fighter-bomber fell out of its attack vector and, seconds later, the paired slashes widened enough half the wing was wrenched away. The aircraft spun out of control, the crew having no time to bail out.

Her glowing red eyes snapped to the horizon as her blade retracted, Yang feeling nothing for her foes plight as the fighting continued all around her. That fighter-bomber made seven kills for the Huntress. She had yet to return to Blake, having figured out enough about falling, changing direction and when to teleport to really start to 'fly' on her own.

In the distance she spotted the _Northern Light_ and watched its point-defenses lash out at two incoming fighter-bombers. Both fired their rotary cannons in kind, but one flashed at the rear as underslung rocket pods opened fire. A half dozen rockets streaked into the top of the air command cruiser's prow as the aircraft broke off.

The explosions rocked the ship and sent large plumes of flame and big pieces of metal flying. As the _Northern Light_ continued on the smoke slowly cleared, the second pair of cannons from the front completely knocked out and a number of fires burning around them.

The air command cruiser had already taken a number of hard blows from cannon fire and was burning at various spots as well as trailing smoke, but on the airship moved, undaunted and made of far sterner material then its foes. The remaining three pairs of cannons fired, sending Dust shells screaming at the enemy destroyer closing in on it.

Four of the six hit the damaged destroyer dead-center, ripping into the hull and detonating, flames and fragments of metal flying from the newly created holes. That was the last the enemy ship could take, the destroyer suffering secondary, internal explosions. It began to break apart, the prow separating from the rest of the ship. The middle and aft portions of the ship pitched over hard to port and both halves began to fall in flames towards the ocean far below.

Yang teleported again to a much higher altitude, having regained some speed. From her new vantage she could see much of the running battle traveling over the surface of the sea like a roaring storm. The _Northern Light_ as well as her relatively unharmed escort _Maple Leaf_ and the now smoking _Riptide_ pressed on for the shores of Atlas.

Far from the _Northern Light_ the remaining White Fang destroyer had already turned and was following it, firing upon the air command cruiser once more with its three cannons. One shell impacted the prow in a burst of flame and metal, but did little to dissuade the larger vessel. All four White Fang escorts were still in play, keeping their distance and seeming to focus their occasional laser fire on the _Riptide_.

The _Riptide's_ luck continued to hold as two more beams of red passed around it harmlessly. It returned fire with two laser projectors of its own, one beam missing wide and the second grazing one of the long wing structures at the rear of it's equally sized target, the heat of the beam melting metal and severing the last third of the stabilizer.

Yang pondered, far in the back of her mind, if those Great War pilots who wrote about their experiences fighting in aerial combat all those decades ago could have ever imagined flying and fighting in such an angry sky.

Her glowing, solid red eyes searched for another target and one presented itself. The Huntress teleported and reappeared above a White Fang Bullhead heading for the Atlesian ships. Yang came down hard on top of the dropship's hull and grabbed the edge of one of the top intakes, holding on as she blocked out the light pain in her legs from a hard landing.

She pulled Furiosa with her cybernetic, cocked the hammer and fired a round into the starboard engine compartment to her right. The Huntress cocked the hammer again, wiped her right arm over her straining left and took aim. Another report barked over the howling wind and screaming engines as the slug of a Volcano Round was driven into the port engine compartment, traces of lava leaking from the hole as the engine smoked.

The starboard engine began to rattled and scream unevenly as smoke poured from the bullet hole of the more standard round that stuck it. Yang replaced her revolver and buttoned down the strap, having emptied the weapon. The port engine began to burn and the Bullhead started to shudder and lost altitude under her.

Yang looked around, searching the sky for something she had not seen in well over two minutes. She tried to find Blake amongst the swirling fur ball of fighter-bombers above. She witnessed a fighter-bomber attempt to evade a chasing missile and swallowed hard.

It was a member of Vapor flight.

The missile reached near the tale of the fighter-bomber and detonated, smoke almost immediately pouring from the craft’s single engine. She watched and hoped, but as it streaked down in flames and blackening smoke towards the ocean below Yang realized nobody was going to make it out.

Yang steeled her heart a little more and prepared to look back up, but something out of the corner of her eye glinted. She looked to her right and spotted a Bullhead trailing faint white smoke and being chased by a fighter-bomber. The faint flash of a red logo on the tail is it turned told Yang the strike aircraft was White Fang.

There was only one friendly Bullhead in the skies as far as Yang knew. She had finally caught sight of her again, but Blake was in trouble.

Dread and terror pulled at her will, but she continued to block out all emotion. The stricken aircraft beneath her began to turn and, when it approximated the heading of Blake's Bullhead, Yang let go and vanished in a fiery flash.

She emerged from flames above the fighter-bomber pursuing Blake and fired off every piece of Inferno Celica behind her, adding a little speed to her dive. Yang did so again twice more, feeling she was getting closer to a suitable speed before teleporting again.

Yang appeared wreathed in flames almost on top of the fighter-bomber, landed on the back and drove her deploying blade into the top of the aircraft as her knees straddled the back of the fighter-bomber wide like a large horse. She looked ahead and confirmed her fears. Blake’s Bullhead was damaged. The Huntress glared down at the cockpit in front of her and screamed at the top of her lungs as she began punching the canopy with her left hand.

Blast after blast sounded as the blows fell on the hardened polymer surface. The first punch and burst of buck cracked it and the second shattered a hole into it. The third sent cracks throughout the shell, the impact of the wind beginning to widen them as the pilot and flight officer looked around in a panic.

There would be no mercy for these two. Yang's left hand lashed through the hole in the canopy and she grabbed the side of the flight officer's helmet. The Human wrenched it around and broke her enemy's neck handily, her hand releasing and leaving the body to slump aside against the failing canopy.

Her fist pulled back and Yang pumped a round of buck into the cockpit, a bit of padding flying from the pilot's chair as fiery shot scythed through. Blood splattered onto the pilot's console and his grip on the controls relaxed, the man very obviously mortally wounded.

Yang's furious red gaze snapped forward as the fighter-bomber beneath her began to pitch slightly. The light rotary cannon flashed in a prolonged burst, the pilot's last act sending light cannon rounds into the starboard engine compartment of Blake's Bullhead and drawing a faint gout of flame and black smoke.

The Huntress' eyes widened as overwhelming fear demanded audience. Yang's will allowed the faintest bit through, the emotional pain adding a bit more fuel to her Semblance. She retracted Eternal Survivor, released the fighter-bomber and teleported again, searing the side of the dropship with flame as she reappeared. Her hands slammed down onto the edge of the cabin door as the Bullhead began to go out of control.

Her Semblance nearing its highest expression, Yang found the strength to slow her movement via her arm strength and dragging her boots along the side of the craft enough to match the speed of the aircraft she was now on. She pulled herself into the cabin and found a bit of footing in time to see Blake struggling to get out of the cockpit, the Faunus' yellow eyes wide with fear.

Her amber gaze fell on Yang's solid, glowing garnet as the world outside beginning to invert around them. Blake's eyes widened with surprise her partner's voice boomed over noises of the dying aircraft.

"Blake!"

Yang dashed forward and grabbed her lover up in her arms with some care, knowing at the center of the maelstrom of her emotions she could crush the woman. The starboard engine detonated and threw the Bullhead completely out of control. She teleported out of the craft with Blake and the wind almost immediately wrenched the Faunus from her arms, both women going tumbling in opposite directions towards the ocean below.

The Human immediately scanned the sky as she continued to fall, having lost sight of Blake. She tried desperately to find her partner, the alarms of terror and the image of standing at a seaside cliff with flowers for a watery grave demanding audience past her will. She fired off Inferno Celica above her as she fell, hoping to signal her partner while also stabilizing her fall a bit.

"Come on Blake, see it! Come on!"

There was nothing as she fell through the sky for a few seconds, not daring to glance away from where she thought the Faunus was. She fired a few more glowing red dust shells off and began to grow concerned, her will allowing a little emotional distress through to feed her Semblance further.

"Blake!"

In the distance and below her was a puff of fire. Then came a burst of electricity. Yang clenched her teeth and went for it, disappearing in a burst of fire and emerging from another near the elemental fireworks, finding Blake rolling from a new clone and lashing out at it with Gambol Shroud at distance, detonating it into bright white and blue ice fragments.

The Faunus had found a way to signal Yang back.

Yang burst closer with a teleport, but could risk no closer due to the dangerous nature of her power of fast travel. The flames would hurt her lover if she was not touching her and bringing her along for the ride. In the back of her mind, however burning Blake was better then letting her die.

She would do her best to avoid such extreme medicine. Yang needed her attention.

" **BLAKE!!** "

The Faunus whipped her head up and threw Gambol Shroud’s blade at Yang. The Human reached out for it, the blade stopping just out of her reach. She fired her greaves off, gaining a little. She fired them again, along with her left gauntlet facing upward, closing more. The ocean was growing closer and closer by the second.

Yang screamed and fired again and again, finally reaching Blake's blade and taking it in her cybernetic hand. She bent her knees and fired, spun herself around and pulled on the weapon and attached line, hoping Blake would hold on tight.

The Faunus had done similar before in their fight with Roman's stolen Paladin. Indeed, she was able to meet Yang part of the way and helped save herself. Her and Yang neared each other in a closing circle and the Human fired once more, finally reaching Blake and taking her in her arms.

This time, she held on a little tighter. Enough to bruise. The two fell together, the terror clawing frantically at Yang's imperious will abating somewhat. The Faunus looked Yang in the eyes.

"We're about to-"

Yang looked at the sky above. "Hold on!"

They disappeared in a blast of fire just forty meters off the ocean. The Huntresses reappeared far above the battle, Yang buying all the time she needed. The Human let go of Gambol Shroud, Blake realizing with wide amber eyes where they were and pulling it back into its handle. Yang took the Faunus up in her arms in a carry, Blake grabbing onto the blonde's shoulders and burying her face in her chest.

Blake had put her complete trust into Yang's power to keep them alive. She would not let her partner and lover down. Not today.

Yang searched for a suitable landing spot and noted a White Fang escort firing on the _Riptide_. She realized that plan would hurt, but could think of no other solution. She teleported again, getting above her target.

Yang slammed down feet first into a kneel on the prow of the enemy escort, making a large impact crater in the lightly armored metal as pain filled her legs and lower back. Somewhat to her surprise, Yang could tell she did not break a single bone. Even the pain in her lower body and legs was only moderate. She was impressed with her new level of strength and toughness, but did not show it.

Her orange cape slapped down onto the ship behind her and then moved in the headwind against and around her back, over her body and fluttered along with her ember casting golden hair around her and Blake. The Human's murderous glowing red eyes focused squarely on the bridge and the now stunned White Fang crew looking down at them. The Faunus pulled her head from Yang's chest and narrowed her yellow gaze on them as well.

"I bet you look amazingly heroic right now."

Yang smirked though her invincible willpower, immediately allowing a bit of burnished pride though. She stood tall and set Blake down on her feet, the women parting and raising their weapons to the ready.

"So, about that idea you had to attack an escort ship."

Blake nodded. “About time.”

The ship's klaxon sounded and three Faunus in Atlesian military uniforms rushed out of the bridge, firing rifles down at them. Black and yellow flashed forth across the prow of the escort as the battle between the other ships raged in the distance beyond.

Two fighter-bombers screamed past far above as a White Fang escort airship started slowly going down in flames, the _Northern Light_ and remaining destroyer trading blows at closing ranges. Both larger ships were battered, but the fighting would not cease.

Idealist fanatics had a habit of not backing down, but then again, so did national militaries. This battles was to the death.

Blake and Yang charged through the enemy fire, the Faunus evading and the Human simply running right through it, the rounds bouncing off her like pebbles off a stone wall.

They jumped up onto the small observation deck. Blake landed feet-first on the chest of her foe, knocking him to the ground and followed up with a lash of Gambol Shroud's scabbard across his face, knocking him out. Yang slammed into a foe fist first, crushing the stag horned female Faunus dead against the observation deck. She whipped around into a stand with a roundhouse kick, Inferno Celica going off and sending the traitorous crewman flying into and through the bridge glass on trails of flaming buck embedded into his chest.

Blake jumped into the bridge through the shattered window and the Human simply dove though another panel of the armored glass fists first, shattering it with ease. They were met with submachine gun and pistol fire as Gambol Shroud flashing about like death's shadow and Inferno Celica boomed and barked with each punch or kick thrown. Their attacks sent the command crew flying over consoles, crashing through other windows of the bridge off the ship or into the bulkhead unconscious or dead.

Against the wall the shadows of a fair maiden and a massive, deadly dragon tore though no less than a dozen foes. In spite of their difference of power and ability, the second half of Team RWBY still made for a deadly and highly complementary combination. Blake attacked anyone who went after Yang’s back or who stayed at distance like a deadly shadow. Yang brought the pain to everyone else like the harsh, burning light of day. 

These men and women were trained for close combat, but they lacked the incredible technique of Blake or the raw strength and skill of Yang. They were sailors of the sky and warriors to the last, not one of them backing down.

Blake and Yang, however, were _Huntresses_.

Within ten seconds, the bridge was cleared. Yang slammed the hatch shut and twisted the metal handle into the locking position and further, bending it out of shape and rendering the hatch unable to open. She turned and looked at Blake as the Faunus seemed to be drawn to a large screen on a double-wide console.

"Let's put this thing into a dive, smash the controls, rip off the wheel and go do it to another one." Yang walked up to Blake. "Come on, we can win this for Winter easy."

Blake stared at the view screen, seemingly oblivious to her partner's sentiment. "Yang... look at this."

She looked at the screen as banging sounded from the hatch behind them. The screen was a map of the capital city of Atlas. It was the notations on it, however, that caught Yang's attention.

"This is just a part of a much bigger plan..."

Blake nodded grimly, concern clearly visible in her eyes. "This is what they were planning. I tried to get solid information... this is Adam's big move. I... this is-"

Yang's left hand landed gently upon Blake's shoulder and squeezed. "It's okay, kitten. Nobody tried harder to stop them than you. You’re stopping them right now. I’m here helping you do it."

The Faunus took a deep breath and nodded, composing herself. “You’re right.”

On the map before them was every operation the White Fang had planned out for the day. Some notations were green and marked as completed while some were yellow, apparently denoting they were still under way. One was red, apparently a failure, and some were grey. Yang figured grey meant those operations had not begun yet.

Various installations had been targeted by the White Fang. Most appeared to be military in nature, but a few Schnee Dust Corporation assets were on the list. There was also a grayed out marker near the edge of the kingdom, just inside the defensive walls. The red marker was for a placed called 'Vita Vindar Air Field'. Something must have gone for the White Fang there.

Something was going very wrong for them here as well.

"We have to transmit this to Winter at once." Blake began entering commands into the console in front of the view screen. "If she can get this back to Atlesian High Command, it will save hundreds, maybe thousands of lives!"

Yang paused at the screen, staring hard at the targets. One troubled her deeply. As far as she could tell, it was not moved on yet as it was still grayed out, though she had no idea how old this information was. She swallowed hard.

"Once you get that to her, tell Winter we need to get to Atlas as soon as possible."

"Why?"

Blake looked at Yang, the Human pointing at one target in particular on the screen. The Faunus slumped at the shoulders, her eyes widening. She shook her head slowly, Yang nodding grimly. More fear tugged at her will, though not to the degree that she knew when Blake was in peril.

"Weiss...there may still be time." Blake turned on the overhead speaker and continued her attempts to hail the _Northern Light_. More banging came at the hatch. This time, it was much louder.

The Human glared at the hatch. She moved around Blake and stood between her partner and metal door, ready to defend her while the information was relayed.

"Enemy ship, this is _Northern Light_. If you wish to surrender, power down your weapons at once," the communications officer of the _Northern Light_ instructed over the bridge speaker. "If not, prepare to be destroyed."

Blake leaned close to a microphone on the console and pushed a button at its base. "This is Blake Belladonna. We have seized control of the bridge of this White Fang escort. I am transmitting important enemy tactical data. Please receive, over."

The Faunus pushed a button, sending the information. In one gesture, Blake had laid the plans of the White Fang bare to Winter.

"Understood, receiving now." The communications officer paused. "This is... this is everything! Captain Schnee, take a look at this! Yes Ma'am, from the Huntresses from Vale! Yes Captain, I will make sure High Command gets this at once!"

The banging continued on the hatch, only now it was far louder. Large dents were appearing in the steel. Yang glowered at the hatch, raising her fists and ready for a fight.

"It's time to go, sunshine."

Yang nodded once and walked over to the ship's helm. She still wanted to beat whoever was on the other side of that hatch into a pulp, but they had much bigger fish to fry now. 

Blake systematically shot the consoles on the bridge with Gambol Shroud's pistol configuration. Yang threw the throttle to the firewall and snapped it off. Blake adjusted some controls on the helmsman's station to put the ship into a descent and Yang ripped the wheel free. The Human punched the console and topped it with a round of a flaming buckshot for good measure.

The escort began to slowly descend, now out of control and doomed to a watery grave.

The hatch swung open and slammed into the bulkhead, a large White Fang fighter who looked similar to the one Adler fought in a duel stepping through bearing a hammer. Sticking out from under his mask was a pair of ten centimeter tusks, one of them pierced and bearing a large gold ring.

“I’m gonna tear you two to pieces!”

Yang stood next to Blake, looking the enemy in the eyes of his black and red mask. She held out her hand without a word, her lover taking it.

“Hope you can swim, porky.”

They vanished into a fiery blast. The Huntresses re-appeared on the prow of the _Northern Light_ in a gout of flame.

The Faunus looked at the Human, metal beneath their feet and the wind passing over them. "You _have_ improved… racist."

Yang laughed a little. “Just talking trash.”

“I know, I’m just-”

A dust shell sailed just over their heads. Blake and Yang blinked at each other and took off running towards the bridge, the cannons on the prow returning fire. The compression blast coming off the weapons reminding Yang of those nights of pain in the desert, but she pushed on without issue. She looked ahead, thankful Blake was spared the bite of such a shock wave.

They reached the damaged observation duck and jumped up onto it and leapt into the bridge one at a time through the broken glass pane. It had gained a couple of companions, two more of the panes on the port side shattered as well.

"You two?!" Winter started, obviously a bit surprised to see them. Her rapier was back at her side. Captain Schnee still stood tall at her commander's platform, a bit of blood on her white uniform. Apparently, it was not her own, but that of some poor crewmember who was hit near her.

The bridge was a lot more damaged than when they were last on it. There were fewer people, a couple of stations manned by new faces and blood on some of the consoles. Blood and broken glass was everywhere in small sums, but the crew worked on diligently. Yang took in the scene around her, amazed the crew was able to keep their wits with so much blood and death. 

Winter's expression was still stern, her demeanor cool and deliberate. Yang's respect for the woman grew as the seconds passed. A Huntress and Captain to her core, the elder Schnee sister had earned a bit of Yang's admiration.

"You both managed to make quite the impact. You have my thanks and the thanks of the Atlesian air fleet. Our victory this day is all but assured and the surviving crew of the _Cloudrunner_ are, as we speak, safely aboard a cargo ship that has graciously accepted them."

The weapons officer offered Yang an open hand, a crewman patting Blake on the back as she walked past.

"Happy to help," Yang replied, shaking the offered hand.

"It's what we do," Blake added, seeming to shrink a little from the attention.

Winter smirked faintly. "I highly doubt engaging strike craft and dropships in melee, stealing the enemy's plans and bringing down an airship were in the job description when you both decided to become Huntresses. I personally witnessed one of your escapades, Miss Xiao Long. That Bullhead was likely going to attempt a boarding operation."

Winter shook her head, a glint in her blue eyes but her expression remaining mostly stern.

"I have no idea what you are Miss Xiao Long, but I am certainly glad to have fought alongside you rather than against you. As for you Miss Belladonna, to fly an unarmed transport in the midst of so many hostile fighter aircraft in support of your partner is nothing short of fantastic and incredibly foolish courage. Well done.”

Blake blushed a little at Winter’s praise, Yang poking her in the shoulder with a single finger.

“If it was up to me, both of you would have a Northern Cross with Swords, Oak Leaves and Diamonds hung about your necks this very evening."

Yang's eyes slowly cooled to purple as the glow left her hair. In spite of everything she had been through, she did not have a scratch on her and she could tell her Aura was still very strong. Blake had a few bruises on her arms where Yang grabbed her, but aside that, even she was fine.

"We are just happy to help." Yang stated flatly, still a bit of a smile on her face.

Blake nodded.

"Nonsense. You two are heroes. The plans you sent us have been relayed to High Command. I will personally see to it that your deeds this day are recognized. The _Northern Light_ , _Riptide_ , _Maple Leaf_ and especially the crew of the _Cloudrunner_ are most certainly in your debt. Now, if you shall excuse me." 

Winter took a deep breathe, gesturing to the destroyer off their port. It was apparently attempting to escape.

"Keep them under our guns, helmsman and gunnery! Let none escape Justice!"

The helmsman nodded, turning the ship. He gestured to the horizon. On it was the shores of Atlas and the faint shapes of buildings slowly coming into focus.

"The Kingdom is in sight, Ma'am."

Winter nodded. "Excellent."

Yang came down from her emotional high as other emotions started to weigh upon. She nearly lost Blake, but put it quickly from her mind. She did wonder about something else. Yang looked around the bridge and found a tan-skinned woman with dark hair, her uniform a little different. She had a blue jacket on over her white tunic, a patch bearing a star compass sewn onto the left shoulder.

"Are you Polaris?"

The woman glanced up at Yang and nodded, no smile coming to her face. She tapped her headset, making it clear she was busy.

"Which one did you lose," Yang asked quietly, recalling seeing a member of Vapor flight go down.

"Roger that, Smoke. Continue pursuit of remaining bandits. Knock them all out of the sky." Polaris sighed and looked up from her console once more while covering the microphone of her headset. "Vapor Two. Daffodil and her flight officer."

Yang shook her head, Flight Officer Del Norte going back to her duties, very obviously maintaining her professionalism and composure through the sadness evident in her brown eyes. She wanted to offer the woman some comfort, but at the moment, it was perhaps best those emotions stayed put away.

It was now going very well, but there was still a battle going on.

"Captain Schnee, I know you saw the plans." Blake seemed to grow slightly nervous. "Is the Schnee-

"Priority message from High Command!" the communications officer interrupted. "The lower floors of the Schnee Dust Corporation World Headquarters were bombed five minutes ago! Schnee Security Solutions are reporting large numbers of White Fang assaulting the building!"

Winter's cold exterior cracked just slightly, the woman's dark blue eyes growing wide. "Wh- what?!"

"Forces are mobilizing, but various attacks across the Kingdom are hindering assistance from reaching the building. The police station is currently under assault and High Command confirms various military assets have been sabotaged or came attack throughout the early morning hours."

One of the _Northern Light's_ gunships flew past the prow. The flight emblem on the side was a square of nine smaller squares; two red, one yellow, one green, three blue, one orange and one white.

"Rubic flight reports their rescue mission is complete and will support us against the remaining White Fang vessels. They await only your command, Captain Schnee."

Winter looked at Blake and Yang. "My home and family are under attack." In the distance, a large building amongst the skyline was surrounded in streams of barely visible smoke. "Weiss is there... Father may be there..."

"You have a battle to win. Envoys to protect," Blake stated flatly as she looked to Yang. "We will go. Can you teleport us that far?"

"We are about to find out." Yang pulled Furiosa, flipped out the cylinder and tapped the ejector rod, knocking out the spent casings. She set about reloading the revolver as the cannon of _Northern Light_ barked again, placing only four rounds into her revolver and leaving six rounds with bright red bullets sticking out from the brass cartridges on her belt.

"Still saving those six, hmm?"

Yang nodded at Blake's observation and closed the cylinder. She did not want to use her Fireball Rounds yet. Those were both expensive and built for a special purpose. She replaced Furiosa, satisfied with four standard rounds.

Blake followed her lead, dropping a nearly spent Dust magazine from Gambol Shroud and pulling a fresh magazine of various colors of Dust. She seated the magazine in her weapon and looked Winter in the eye.

"We are ready to go, Captain."

Yang nodded once more. "Just say the word, Princess."

"Before you go, thank you for everything you have done and are about to do, Blake and Yang. My sister could not ask for faster, finer friends than you two. Now go help my family and all those people! Polaris, if you will.”

Polaris covered her microphone, her eyes hardening. “Good hunting, Bumblebee!”

Winter pointed into the distance at the silhouette of Schnee Dust Corporation Headquarters. “In Septentrionali Regnum!"

Yang and Blake turned and ran, jumping right back out the window they came in through, onto the observation deck and down to the deck of the long prow. The gunship hovering over the prow opened fire on the fleeing White Fang destroyer with its paired light rotary cannons as the three remaining fighter-bombers from Vapor flight chased a straggler White Fang fighter-bomber in the distance.

Blake held out her right hand and Yang took it up in their left as the ran towards the leading edge of the ship's prow on the starboard side of the pairs of cannons facing to the port. The Human focused on the large tower as her point of reference, still unsure if she could pull off a long distance teleportation. It would likely take more than one.

Yang's irises turned red and the golden glow returned to her hair. She pulled Blake in front of her, grabbed the woman up and both jumped from the prow of the ship. They vanished into a burst of flame, the only reinforcements available to aid a desperate cause.

Once more, they took flight on a mission of mercy.


	25. Goldilocks

Blake and Yang approached from a burst of flames in the skies above the capital city of Atlas. What laid before them to the horizon and the mountainous terrain beyond was destruction and terror.

Two large, relatively squat buildings were engulfed in flames. One of the buildings was apparently the police station judging by the number of black and white patrol vehicles that laid damaged and destroyed in the attached parking garage. The other appeared to be a large store of some form, periodic explosions flashing through the windows and out of the roof.

Numerous skyscrapers featured dozens if not hundreds of broken or shattered windows. The streets were filled with glass, burning debris and the bodies of those unfortunate enough to cross paths with the White Fang.

In the skies above their heads Bullheads and gunships flew in and out from the top of a massive skyscraper framed in by smoke rising from its ground floors. A large scale rescue operation was apparently underway, but Yang knew it would take a hundred or more trips to get everyone who worked in the eighty story Schnee Dust Corporation World Headquarters off the top of the building.

Considering the assault from the White Fang and the shape of the ground floor there was likely no other avenue of escape but to go up.

By the time the necessary aircraft or ground forces could be brought to bear, the White Fang could have killed hundreds more. Someone had to do something and, as the communications operator of the _Northern Light_ had foretold, the Atlesian military was well out of position. There were no soldiers in the street and many of the aircraft making rescue flights appeared to be unarmed Bullheads and only the occasional gunship.

There were also troubling sights as they traveled in bursts of teleportation to the city. Large pods and swarms of Sea Grimm approached the fortified coastline, the occasional shell, laser beam or even missile slamming into the monsters and killing scores. The vague silhouettes of flocks of Nevermore and clouds of Griffons were on the horizon to the north of Atlas' famous Perimeter Wall.

So famed was this defensive encirclement of walls and strongholds it did not need a proper name. It was simply the ‘Perimeter Wall’.

Likely the most fortified capital of the four, Yang knew in the back of her mind even the impressive defenses of the Perimeter Wall would be hard pressed by the large-scale Grimm attacks being drawn in by the panic. Still, if any Kingdom's defenses could hold under the waves of Grimm, it would be those of Atlas. However, those defenses would now demand so much manpower the Atlesian Military and Atlas Academy would likely be unable spare anyone to help the city proper against the White Fang.

Schnee Dust Corporation World Headquarters, important as it was, was not more important than the Perimeter Wall. It would seem the building and the thousands of people within were left to their fate. Yang glanced at the police station, watching the flames and smoke rise into the morning sky. If someone did not act soon, that would be the fate of the mighty tower that bore her friend’s family name.

"We have to stop this..." Blake's words carried over the wind as they fell from the sky.

"We will. Get ready to land, kitten."

Blake nodded.

Yang's eyes narrowed on her target landing zone, only the irises glowing red. She was conserving her Aura, knowing she would need as much as she could save for what was about to come. They teleported again, now lower to the ground and above Yang's desired landing zone. The Human released her partner and the two women flipped apart.

Blake landed gracefully on her feet and a single hand, her head snapping up to look forward. Yang slammed down a few meters from her boots first, shattering the stonework beneath her feet with only a slight bend at her waist. They rose to a stand in One Schnee Plaza, the large courtyard in front of the Schnee Dust Corporation World Headquarters.

They took off running through the debris-filled courtyard, trailing white coat and orange cape as they went straight for the stricken building rising high before them. The entire front facade of the first two floors was destroyed, blown wide open by a powerful explosion. The glass was gone, the windows of nearby buildings also blown out. A scorched black husk of a large truck was embedded in the primary doorway, the first and second floors on fire.

"We need to get to Weiss," Yang started, looking over the destruction and carnage.

There were bodies littered all over the courtyard, dead security personnel, employees and bystanders as well as some dead White Fang. Shell casings littered the stonework along with glass, splatters of blood and the dropped personal belongings of those who fled, or rather, attempted to flee.

"She is going to need help, wherever she is in there. Three is better than two."

"I agree,” Blake affirmed. “Let's go find her."

Yang nodded, watching White Fang fighters continue to assault into the building. As the Huntresses approached Blake pulled Gambol Shroud from her shoulder, Yang's Inferno Celica already deployed.

A few White Fang preparing to head into the building spotted them, stopped and turned. Firearms were leveled and melee weapons held at the ready. They seemed prepared to meet the charge.

Yang would make sure they quickly realized the grievous error they had just committed in pointing a weapon at her. The Human narrowed her eyes and started running at a full charge. Blake fell in behind her in a dash. She took a bit of comfort in knowing that, behind her, Blake was safe.

The White Fang opened fire immediately, Yang lifting her gauntlets and shielding her face as she ran. The incoming Dust rounds sparked and ricocheted off Inferno Celica as well as her powerful Aura when they impacted her body, her red eyes on the prize between her slightly parted gauntlets. 

The Huntresses closed the distance quickly, three fighters armed with melee weapons moving to intercept them. As they closed Yang jumped into a forward flip, heels over head, and landed on one of them, laying him out flat, two reports of Inferno Celica's greaves and a bone crunching impact heralding his end.

Blake's weapon lashed out in whip form, wrapping around a second fighter's legs and pulling him down onto his back and towards the Faunus Huntress. Blake struck him with her scabbard and pulled Gambol Shroud free and back into blade form, taking the sword across his chest to tax her foe's Aura before kicking him in the face, knocking him out.

The third fighter swung his axe, Yang parrying the attack away with her left gauntlet and countering with a right cross and shotgun blast. The blow sent her now very dead foe flying into the shattered basin of the leaking fountain that was once the centerpiece of the plaza.

The Human Huntress spun into a low stance from the momentum of her punch as enemy fire whizzed past around her and fired a barrage of shells from her gauntlets at the ranged White Fang. Her foes scattered as buckshot impacted the ground all around them and detonated into tiny, fiery explosions. One was hit with some of the spreading shot and was knocked into a stumble. Yang sent a follow-up shot square into her stomach and took her legs out from under her, the White Fang fighter going into the scorched stonework face first, breaking her mask, nose and knocking her unconscious.

A White Fang fighter attempted to shoot at Yang from her flank with a semi-automatic shotgun, only to have Blake catch his arm with Gambol Shroud in whip form. The Faunus spun her foe around, the firearm going off harmlessly into the distance as she closed on him. Blake took her scabbard across the fighter's masked face, shot him a few times at point black range and followed up with a high-kick to the head, knocking him unconscious.

The remaining two began to fall back, firing their rifles in controlled bursts. Yang ran at them and fired off her greaves, jumping a full two stories above them, winding her right arm back and coming down on one fist first, flattening him into the ground, cracks in the stonework where he was laid out dead on impact. The last of them turned her weapon onto Yang only for the Human to stand, twirl with a lifted leg and fire a greave at the woman, hitting the White Fang fighter and dodging her fire in kind.

Yang came out of the spin and fired her right gauntlet, hitting the fighter in the face and whipping her head back from the flaming shotgun blast. Her foe stumbled back two steps and fell on her back, her mask knocked away. She raised her rifle, her blue eyes wide with a mixture of fear and surprise, only to have Blake run up and kick the weapon away.

The Faunus Huntress glared down at the White Fang fighter who in turn looked up at her, Blake's cat ears still visible for all to see.

"A Faunus..." the fighter growled with a sneer, a few small burns on her face from Yang's buckshot and one of her mouse ears sporting a fresh nick and bleeding. "You fucking trai-"

Blake's boot went across the woman's face and silenced her, a bit of blood flying from the fighters mouth as her head cracked against the stonework of the plaza.

"You're the traitors," Blake whispered back, still staring down at the woman with narrowed amber eyes.

Yang could hear the sound of gunfire being exchanged within the building. Whatever battle was taking place sounded pitched. She looked to Blake, knowing they were needed inside.

"You okay, kitten?"

The Faunus Huntress nodded once and looked to Yang, her expression softening a little. "Let's go find Weiss."

Yang smiled at her partner and nodded, but the smile slowly left her face as Blake's eyes began to widen. The Human Huntress turned and found a large fighter lumbering towards them through the flames beyond the shattered windows of the first floor, seemingly heedless of the heat.

The massive White Fang warrior, nearly two full meters tall, carried a steel studded wooden war club over his shoulder in his thick arms and large hands. His mask was different from the rank and file fighters. It was mostly black with fierce red markings and almost glowing red lenses. The mask resembled the face of an Ursa Major. The large man wore no shirt, just black jeans, a wide studded black leather belt, matching bracers and matching, laced up boots.

His muscular upper body was heavily covered with black body hair, his skin tan and his abdomen a barrel of muscle and some fat. He stopped twenty meters from Yang and Blake, a pair of round bear ears sticking out of his unruly black hair, a beard and moustache on his visible lower face. A bit of his body hair smoked from the kiss of the flames, but no more did the fire afflict him.

Blood stained his club, boots and the knuckles of his fists. He had obviously killed many today and this large warrior did not seem the least bit intimidated by either one of the Huntresses before him.

"You two go no further today," his deep, gruff voice started. "Traitor, Goldie. You both will die this day."

"Is that so?" Yang asked, looking him in the lenses of his mask as her hair brightened a bit and her eyes glowed slightly more. Deep down, the dragon was furious. This man had challenged her.

That would not go unanswered. More importantly, however, he blocked the way and seemed dangerous. Yang knew this man would have to be reckoned with. She knew what it took for Adler to stop one of these warriors. The old knight's skill outmatched her own and he had to resort to his Semblance nonetheless.

"So big boy, you and what army are going to stop **me**?" Yang almost hissed, a bit of flame leaving her lips.

Another large warrior walked up to them from her left in the distance. She was not so large or tall is the first, but the woman was only a dozen centimeters shy of two meters tall. Her hips and shoulders were wide, her bust generous behind her black tunic. Her hair was long and chocolate in color, a similar pair of bears ears atop her head in chocolate brown. Her skin was light, with only a faint tan. The woman's mask was an even mixture of white and black and shaped like that of an Ursa, the lenses black. A single red line ran across the eyes, painted on somewhat sparsely to resemble blood.

Her belt, boots and the glove on her left hand were brown leather. In her bare right hand she had a wicked, long machete dripping with blood. Hanging on her belt was a holster, sticking out of it a cut-down wooden handle of what was likely an old school chop job on a hunting weapon.

Yang glared at the woman. "This still isn’t gonna cut it."

Blake looked in the opposite direction. "Yang..."

From their right came a third White Fang fighter, this one with a more typical build, though still apparently muscular and athletic. His short-cropped hair was stark white, his bear ears as well. His Ursa mask was solid white, only the lenses red. Not a single red accent adorned his mask aside dry blood. They young man’s fur-lined bomber jacket bore a patch on the left shoulder that proclaimed him a member of the 5th Night Fighter Squadron. His attire was an Atlesian flight suit complete with shined black boots.

Likely, this fair skinned young man was one of the traitors. He had a pilot’s golden wings pinned to his jacket.

He pulled a gleaming steel hatchet with a wrapped wooden haft decorated with black feathers from his standard issue Atlesian belt with his right hand and long knife with his left. The young man took a rarely seen stance with the rarely seen combination of weapons, his hands close together and his knife's blade held outward from his left hand. His white clothing was covered in blood, vermillion streaking his hair and dying one of his small round ears.

Yang looked at the young man, the smirk lot leaving her lips. "Now that's more like it."

A number of explosions sounded from the building. The battle within was growing fierce.

"I need to get to Weiss right now," Blake whispered, a bit of worry in her voice.

The Human's confidence was almost immediately shaken. Yang's will clamped down on the panic in her heart at Blake's words. She looked at her partner.

"We can do this together."

"Yang, this is a ploy to delay us from getting into the building. We can't fall for it."

The Human clenched her teeth, but kept her lips closed. She wanted to fight these three. The rank and file White Fang likely had nothing on the three before them. Still, her logic told her Blake's words were wise. Yang put aside her intense pride in favor of staying close to her partner.

"Then let's bypass them and go inside."

"If we both do, who will stop them from killing more people or just following us in?"

A chill ran up Yang's spine halfway before she halted it. Blake was adamant they split up. It was the last thing she wanted to do.

The Faunus Huntress seemed to sense Yang's fear. "If I don't get to Weiss, she may not be there when we do. If these three are not stopped, how many more people will they kill today? Yang, you are right; I need someone to watch my back in a fight. That can be Weiss when I find her. You-"

"Were trained to be a one woman army," Yang whispered as the three fighters started towards them. "I... Blake, I don't like this. I really, really hate it. You know that."

"Yang, lives are at stake. Weiss' life is probably at stake."

"Just... don't take any big risks."

Blake smiled faintly at Yang, a bit of warmth in her yellow eyes. "Those words from you of all people..."

Yang could barely believe she said it either. Her emotions were a jumbled mess. She wanted to stick close to Blake, but at the same time her partner was right. These three had very obviously killed dozens of people and would not stop simply because two Huntresses ran past them. There was also the question of her pride. Part of her very much wanted to fight these three.

"It'll be okay, Yang."

"Get to Weiss. Hold the White Fang wherever she has decided to fight them. You two will be the anvil."

"You'll be the hammer."

Yang nodded. She swatted Blake on her behind, smirking at the woman as she jumped a little, completely shutting out her fear for the woman's safety as much as it pained her to do so.

"I love you. Go!"

"I love you too."

Blake took off running, the large man raising his war club as she neared him. Two blasts of Inferno Celica struck him in the chest, seemingly to no effect, but drawing his attention long enough for Blake to slip past at a full dash, heading for the building beyond.

Yang's eyes lingered on Blake until she jumped up through the shattered windows of the second floor between two sets of flames. The noises of whatever battle within had seemed to pause. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and released it, ordering her emotions and allowing some to come through.

Her eyes opened, the three warriors closer to her now. It was time to let a little of the dragon out, but her shadow remained human.

"I see what this is," Yang stated, gesturing to the woman and young man and then to the large man before her. "You guys are the welcoming party. That's good, those other guys folded like a bad hand. So, I'm going to call you Blackie, Brownie and Whitey. Since fair is fair, I guess you can keep on calling me Goldie. Maybe you three can show me a good time? Nothing too **hard** or too _soft_. Something just right?"

The larger male Faunus snorted, bringing his club off his shoulder and taking his fighting stance, the female Faunus holding her machete before her, taking a stance of her own. The younger man began to growl behind his mask.

If they at all cared to go after Blake they all seemed to have quickly put it from their minds. Every one of them focused on the golden-haired Huntress before them.

"Now, just so you three know, I don't hate you for what you are, just for what you have done." Yang flexed her arms, pushed them out and brought them back in, first her left, then her cybernetic right, chambering new shells in each gauntlet. "I can smell the innocent blood all over you three. Even if you ask for mercy, you deserve only fire and death.”

Yang gestured to herself with a wide, toothy grin.

“ **I'm offering. Any takers?**."

The smaller Faunus shouted with animalistic fury and charged Yang, swinging his hatchet and the Human blocking with her gauntlet, his knife flashing up like a blur at her face. The Huntress pulled her head back and watched the blade barely miss her nose. She rolled her left arm outward, moving his hatchet away and thrust her right fist into his chest, a twelve gauge shell and the force of the blow sending him flying back.

Yang caught the next attack out of the corner of her eye and ducked, the machete swiping past above her head, barely missing her golden locks. She whirled around and threw her cape into her female foe's face, stunning her for a split second. The Huntress continued to spin, seeing the larger male coming at her and whirled her leg up into a kick, pulling her lower leg in at the knee and thrusting out twice as she spun, sending a shell with a barking report at each of them.

The female Faunus was struck by fiery buckshot and stumbled back, but the larger male barreled on without heed. Yang sidestepped his falling war club and felt the ground shake as it struck, jagged stone flying up and hitting her in the legs, her Aura keeping her from being cut. She jabbed the large man in the face with her right gauntlet, a report filling her ears.

She was surprised to find the blow had absolutely no effect on him. He swept his club into her direction, Yang jumping at the last moment and feeling the impact faintly through her Aura as she was hurled away, flying over Whitey's head as she sailed past.

The Huntress slammed into another building well away and bounced of the damage her impact did and down to the ground chest first. Yang growled under her breath and stood back up, watching Whitey come running towards her. She clenched her teeth, growling louder in anger.

That hit hurt.

Her eyes glowed a little redder and her hair began to glow a little brighter, a few embers shedding off. These three were serious.

So was she.

The Human Huntress ran straight at the three and met Whitey head on. He rolled past her and came up, his hatchet blade leading the way, hitting Yang's left leg and cutting past Aura to skin, splitting her tan pants open and leaving a graze of a cut across the back of her lower left thigh. Yang wound around and planted her cybernetic fist into his face along with a round of buck, whipping his head about and sending him flying off ten meters trailing embers before slamming into the ground.

She continued her spin and fired off her greaves, cracking the ground and breaking back into a full run. Yang realized these three could hit hard enough her Aura would only mitigate the blows, not stop them entirely She needed more power. Yang reaching back in her mind, playing a slideshow of failures, intentionally allowing herself to feel the emotional pain. The faint burn of Seven Eye's venom tingled in her veins.

Yang needed her pain now. It answered the call.

Her hair grew brighter as her entire eyeballs glowed red, her Semblance ratcheting up in power at her very command.

Next in her path was Brownie. The female Faunus pulled a sawed off shotgun from her hip and unleashed both barrels of Dust-infused buck at Yang. The Earth-Dust twelve gauge shot slammed into the Huntress's chest like a wall of angry stone hornets, tearing into her leather vest and yellow top at spots, but shattering off her Aura and skin like kicked-up gravel.

"Big mistake!"

Yang shoved her right fist into the woman's chest at full run and let a shell off the chain. Brownie stumbled backward, evidently stunned. The Huntress followed up, not breaking her stride, with a flurry of left jabs and right hooks. She battered the Faunus back, focusing the blows on her chest, stomach and head. Report after report sounded, the White Fang fighter unable to raise her guard or counter Yang's furious assault as she was pushed back.

Seeing Blackie closing fast and knowing Whitey was likely on his feet and coming back for more, she planted her right foot on Brownie's chest and fired off Inferno Celica's right greave, back-flipping away and sending her opponent to the ground. As she passed through the air Yang took stock of the positions of her foes, seeing Whitey was indeed back up and running to Brownie's aid.

The Huntress slammed back into the wall of the building behind her, this time much higher than where she hit just before and fired both gauntlets and greaves, sending herself back in like a missile from shattering stonework right into Whitey. He raised his knife in time, plunging it past Aura into Yang's right shoulder a centimeter and then another, a burning pain filling her upper right body and arm. For his trouble he received the full brunt of Yang's impact square in the chest as she grabbed his jacket in her hands, slamming him flat into the stonework back-first and putting cracks in it.

Yang knelt on his chest, wound back her left arm and brought it down into his face, the gauntlet barking fire and buck. Whitey shuddered under her, his left hand releasing the knife stuck into the Huntress, the strength of her Aura having kept the blade from plunging any deeper. She pulled the blade free from her body with her right and whirled it around in her metallic hand, lifting it high.

"That's not how you stick someone, little bear!" Yang's voice screamed as flames licked from her lips. "This is!"

Yang brought down her arm and stabbed the knife into his left shoulder to the hilt, the young man crying out. The pain of her shallow stab wound only fueled her Semblance further, embers beginning to waft from Yang's hair as she set about mercilessly beating the Faunus beneath her. Sickening cracks and pops of bones breaking sounded, but were muffled by twelve gauge reports as she unloaded with both fists on his chest and face.

His right arm whipped up with the hatchet, only for Yang to block with her left forearm, metal clashing on metal. She grabbed the weapon with her right hand and wrenched it away, breaking two of his fingers to do so with her Aura-backed steel grasp. Yang wound back the weapon in her cybernetic hand and hurled it at the oncoming Blackie, the larger Faunus deflecting it with his war club.

The large male Faunus covered the last few meters and swung horizontally, Yang moving with the blow and ahead of it, just managing to duck the swing. The Huntress kicked her right greave into her downed foe's thigh and used the power of the motion and recoil of the shell firing to throw her off him and past Blackie, rolling to her feet behind him.

"Come on big boy, let's see how hard you can dish it!"

Yang ducked another swing as he came back around. She threw out her left fist, then her right, her gauntlets thundering. This time her blows found some purchase, stumbling the larger man momentarily. The Huntress stepped in and loosed a barrage of punches and Dust buckshot upward, hammering on the man's face.

Though the tempest of fists and fiery double-ought buck his left hand lashed out and grabbed her hair, lifting Yang off the ground as his right arm wound up the club like a bat.

" **Let go of my fucking hair!!** " Yang screeched furiously as more flames flashed before her mouth, the pain in her scalp from behind lifted by her mane stoking the fire of her Semblance. She called upon her stomach muscles, pulled up both her legs and thrust them out heel first into his mask's eyes, twelve gauge shells going off on impact.

He stumbled from the blow, but followed through with the attack. The club slammed into the side of Yang's chest under her left arm, bruising two of her ribs in spite of the strength of her Aura. She went flying once again, a few stray hairs of her mane hanging from his meaty fist. He swooned to his left, his war club hitting the ground and keeping him on his feet, steadying him like a cane.

Yang slammed into the ground a few meters away, her chest on fire. She had not forgotten the pain of a busted rib, but this was a good reminder of a piece of that pain nonetheless. The sound of heavy footfalls, too fast and too soon to be Blackie, reached her ears. The Human got back to her feet in time to see Brownie's spinning attack, the shotgun sweeping across first, both barrels of buck peppering Yang's neck and upper chest with twelve gauge hailstones of Ice Dust, bruising her bronze skin and drawing a little blood where jagged ice cut past Aura and skin.

The biting blade of the machete was stayed as it came around, Yang's left arm coming up and blocking it, the clash of steel filling her ringing ears. The Huntress screamed in Brownie's face, slid the gauntlet down and back and grabbed the woman's wrist in a her left hand.

Yang wrenched the blade away from her while still holding onto the wrist. She slammed her metallic right fist into the woman's slightly plush stomach to the sound of a shotgun blast, shuddering her and nearly doubling the Faunus over as her wind was taken. The Huntress wound back her right again, took aim, and threw a haymaker into Brownie's exposed inner right arm, just above the elbow.

Block, grab, counter punch and limb break all in two seconds. Taiyang would be proud how quickly his daughter had mastered the counter maneuver.

Brownie screamed in gut wrenching pain as the bone broke clean in two and was forced out of her skin by the power of Yang's blow. The shotgun blast on impact ripped the flesh around the compound fracture and burnt it, likely condemning the limb to amputation should the Faunus survive.

Yang released the woman's now useless right arm, wrenched the mask from her face with her left hand and grabbed her chin with her right, dragging her down to her level and forcing the hazel-eyed, freckle faced thirty-something to look unshielded into Yang's murderous red eyes.

" _Too soft_." Yang raised her left and drew it back, the other two not yet in position to aid their comrade.

Brownie's eyes widened, fear taking dominion of her features as Yang wound up, more than willing to end the woman's life in one brutal blow.

"N- no! Please, no!!"

Yang opened her palm and slapped the woman across the face at full force, stunning her. The Human released her and allowed the larger woman to fall to the ground, her glowing gaze snapping to Blackie and Whitey, both halting their advance and parting, starting to circle Yang.

Whitey's mask was cracked, many chips in the edges. Blood ran from his mouth and from under his mask, presumably from his nose. A large blood stain covered the upper-left of his bomber jacket, the knife back in his hand, his hatchet clenched in his other in spite of broken fingers.

Yang's gaze shifted to Blackie, his mask cracked across his left eye, the lens shattered and gone.

She grit her teeth and snarled, the pain mounting even through her brilliant Aura, her Semblance at, she estimated, just over half power. She pushed the dragon back a bit, Yang's better nature coming to the fore.

"Do you two really want to keep doing this?" She pointed into the distance. "Look you three. I'm here to save lives. If that means taking lives, then let's fucking go some more. I've got somewhere to be. But if you want to walk away with your lives, I'm willing to let it happen right here, right fucking now! Only chance! Any takers?!"

Blackie raised his left hand from his weapon and gestured to Brownie. Whitey looked at him, then at Yang, then back to the larger man. The large Faunus gestured again, more severely. Whitey nodded once, put away his hatchet and knife and knelt, picking up Brownie slowly, evidently strong enough to carry the large woman. The young man turned and started walking away with the woman over his shoulder, Brownie cradling her damaged arm and letting out a pained cry.

Yang nodded. "What about you, big guy?"

The large male Faunus shook his head as the other two walked away. "I don't want your mercy, Human. All I want, all I ever wanted, was a better world for my family. My son and wife will not die here."

Yang felt the pang of emotion and guilt, but quelled it under the iron fist of her willpower. If anything, it only fueled her Semblance further. She also reminded herself she had absolutely nothing to feel guilty about. They had killed innocent people. She was just trying to stop them.

"Neither will you should you choose."

"The Schnees and General Ironwoods of the world have to be done away with. Huntresses like you are the real monsters of Remnant. The strongmen and strongwomen of the Kingdoms, sent to keep my kind 'in line'. Humans like you can't be allowed to live. Lap animals of the Humans like your partner, the Traitor, can't be allowed to live."

"I was not alive or old enough to understand what was done to your people or to take part. As bad as that must have been, does that give you the excuse to deny a world for my family? For my friends? I want a world where Human and Faunus live side by side in peace. You just want my kind gone. I guess that means we can't just get along, huh?"

He nodded. "You said it yourself, kid. You think we deserve only fire and death."

"How many did you kill today? How many Humans did you murder for the crimes of their ancestors? How many Faunus have you killed that tried to protect people from you?"

"Not enough. As for you, you took my wife's arm and beat my son nearly to death. You stabbed him with his own knife. You are a Huntress; part of the problem. I know you deserve to die, Human."

"Well, Dad always said our actions have consequences. Before we continue, let me promise you, your wife will adapt to having one arm." She lifted her cybernetic and flexed her fingers. "I had to for a long time until I got this.”

Blackie snorted. "Now I know who you are. The brash girl with golden hair. He's told us of you. Adam will kill should I fail. That Traitor, too."

"I intend to fully deserve my death, but she will live to be an old lady and die peacefully in her sleep. You love your wife and son enough to lay down your life. I love my sister, Blake and even my friend Weiss enough to die for them. You mark my words, though; Adam will only hurt Blake again un-avenged over my shattered and bloody corpse."

"Then you will die by his blade, Human."

"Try to save him the trouble, Papa Bear."

He smirked a bit and Yang smiled back .

"That I will, Goldilocks."

He took off his mask, his eyes weary and blue, but intense. He looked right into Yang's without the slightest hint of fear. His left eye sported a black shiner, a bit of blood running from his nose. Blackie raised his weapon, his powerful body slick with sweat.

"Death to Humanity! For the Victory of the White Fang!"

Yang raised her fists and ejected spent shells from Inferno Celica. Her golden hair flared and her red eyes glowed bright as her own muscles flexed beneath bronze skin as she took her stance. Her shadow shifted large.

"Fire and Death! Honor and Glory!"

They fell upon one another, champions of their causes. It was over in a brutal, bloody minute. Yang admired how hard and boldly he fought, but the man never stood a chance against a dragon.


	26. Walk the Line

The first two floors of the Schnee Dust Corporation World Headquarters burned, dozens dead or dying and thousands more trapped and heading upward in the stairwells, the elevators overridden by the security protocols. Fire alarms blared through the building, red lights flashing. The White Fang's surprise was total and brutal, the truck borne Dust-bomb eradicating many of the people on the first floor, only some making it away.

Schnee Security Solutions valiantly tried to hold them on the first, then on the second floor. Though there lives were spent dearly, it was simply not enough. The initial assault of the White Fang was blunted at the second floor landing, but the following assault broke the security forces.

There was simply not enough security officers and AK-200s left to hold the second floor against such overwhelming numbers and firepower. The major push was on, dozens of White Fang rushing into the burning first floor through shattered windows, walls and blown off doorways. They were moving up the elaborate staircases towards the large food court of the third floor.

Panicked boots, shoes and low heels ran past the dead who made it to or were carried to the food court before they expired, the glow of faint flames on the crimson stained white walls, stainless steel tables and matching chairs. Much of the furnishings of the third floor food court were scattered about, a few tables even set up as a fighting position that had long been abandoned. Discarded and dropped breakfast wraps, cups of coffee and other morning foods for workers on the go laid on the floor, mixing and mingling with broken glass and pools of blood.

The last of the survivors from the lower floors ran towards the double-staircases flanking the locked down elevator. A bloody hand came up from one of the bodies amongst the dead. A man in business attire stopped to offer aid as the remaining of his fellows ran past.

He took the wounded woman's hand and tried to lift her, but gunshots rang out and blood splattered from his chest and abdomen in a crimson mist. The man slumped down as the wounded woman cried out in terror.

A White Fang fighter walked up to the newly murdered man and looked down at the woman, taking aim at the bloody survivor amongst a row of the dead. She stared up at him with wide orange eyes, one of the lenses of her thick rimmed glasses cracked.

"No... please..."

The elevator at the end of the food court dinged, the red light above the double doors turning white. The doors parted as the prong-horned White Fang above the survivor looked up and raised his weapon, his fellows arriving on the third floor landing catching sight of the light pouring from the elevator doing the same.

The White Fang opened fire on the reinforcements, only to have their bullets scatter against grey Dust glyphs of protection.

Weiss Schnee strode forth bathed in white light in her almost shimmering blue and white combat dress, a grey glyph of protection under her feet. She weaved Myrtenaster in circular motions, grey Dust forming additional glyphs, the bullets impacting them turning the protective barriers to stone momentarily before crumbling. Behind her four Atlesian Knight 200s followed in combat stances, their rifles and shotguns barking back, halting the White Fang's pursuit of the survivors.

"Hold the stairwells!" Weiss shouted as four more robotic soldiers descended each staircase, pouring fire down on the White Fang in controlled bursts from their rifles.

It hade taken precious time to get down the building, overriding elevators and security protocols as she went, but in return for the time spent Weiss had built up a sizeable force of commandeered AK-200s. She set about doing all she could.

"We have to buy time for additional aircraft to arrive and evacuate the survivors!"

The Huntress spotted the hand coming up from the dead and narrowed her eyes, realizing someone was still alive amongst the dead. Without a moment’s hesitation she moved forward under fire, her AK-200s returning it and covering her.

"Get to cover, now!"

Her four robotic companions heeded her order, two getting behind a food cart and the other two moving to cover behind a low planter near the left set of stairs to the fourth floor.

The White Fang took cover on the steps of the staircases leading up from the second and first floors, others going to ground behind planters filled with damaged foliage at the overlook of the atrium. They returned fire in controlled bursts, Weiss advancing against them while raising ice barriers at even intervals, providing herself moving cover.

The Heiress reached the wounded woman and raised one more barrier, this one stone. She took the woman's hand and brought her to her feet, putting a bloody arm around her neck. The injured woman leaned heavily on Weiss, but the Huntress was able to help her walk nonetheless.

"Thank you, thank you," the woman cried as she limped along. She turned her head, getting her good lens on the shorter woman helping her. The survivor's eyes widened.

"Miss... Miss Schnee? What are you doing down here, Miss Schnee?"

"My job," Weiss stated plainly with a soft smile as she helped the woman along, gunfire pattering against the stone wall behind them.

They made it around the low planter to the left staircase, Weiss continuing to raise barriers of ice and stone to shield them with one hand on her blade. An AK-200 shouldered its weapon, came down from the stairwell and picked the woman up in its arms. It carried her up the stairwell under the covering fire of the other robots as Weiss turned and weaved another glyph to augment her knight's cover.

"Get her to help!"

The woman looked down at Weiss as she ascended away from the carnage in the metal arms of a robot meant to replace Human and Faunus in such dangerous situations. It carried her to salvation, but is was a Huntress that brought her to the AK-200 so that it might do so. Weiss could see the tears and awe in the eyes of the bloody survivor, perhaps the last innocent to leave the first three floors with her life.

Spared death that dark day by the actions of a Huntress.

"Thank you Miss Schnee!" the woman managed through her tears. "I will never forget you."

Weiss retook her position in front of the elevator and nodded sharply, taking pride in her work, but remaining focused on the hard task before her.

"The pleasure was mine. Now go!" She looked back out as the newest glyph barriers of stone and ice failed and gunfire continued being traded. She began working through her head how to best hold this redoubt.

Her attention was demanded elsewhere immediately.

An attack of four fighters launched under covering fire from the ad-hoc fighting position of tables and chairs now in the hands of the enemy. Weiss began to move her rapier and pointed to the incoming assault, her blue eyes narrowing. They would pay for their impetuous nature.

"Concentrate fire!"

She whirled her weapon about and traced glyphs of ice on the floor in their line of advance. A boot landed upon a glyph and ice seized leg to the knee. Heeding the Huntresses orders, the AK-200s snapped their featureless gazes to the stricken White Fang fighter and poured bursts of fire on him. His Aura held out for a second or two, but by the third he was riddled with rounds, vermillion dying his white tunic as she slumped down, still held by ice.

Two more fell into the same trap and two more were riddled with rounds, killed by the merciless fire of the supporting AK-200s. The fourth managed to run the gauntlet of tables, chairs and enemy fire, returning it in bursts from her submachine gun.

The floppy dog eared Faunus screamed at them as she pressed on, a few more White Fang taking inspiration from her as she crossed the halfway point of 'no man's land'. Half a dozen more fighters broke from their cover, the AK-200s changing targets and splitting their fire.

The Heiress admired her heroics, but would have to put a stop to it.

Weiss sneered, stepped forward and weaved Myrtenaster about. The fighter came right for her, throwing down her spent firearm and pulling a saber. The Huntress took her fencing form and unleashed her glyphs with a gesture of her free hand.

Fire glyphs appeared in the path of the inspired assault. Four of the half dozen were engulfed in searing flames as they stepped upon the faint glyphs, Weiss' training in the past months enhancing not only her control and speed of placement, but also allowing her glyphs to appear far more faintly if she desired.

Faint glyphs were perfect for traps.

Four of the White Fang burned, falling to the ground and screaming in agony as flames enveloped them. The other two fell back, but still came the dog-eared Faunus.

"Death to Humanity!"

Weiss remained silent and moved her blade in a flourish. Saber impacted upon rapier, steel singing out. The Heiress put her training to work, moved her wrist in two sharp, precise movements that got the tip of Myrtenaster into the woman's guard.

The Huntress pushed her arm out fully in a thrust as the saber came for her side and drove the tip of her rapier through the woman's throat, sending a shudder through her body. Her weapon fell from her grip and clattered to the tile floor as blood began to slowly pour from her mouth and wounded neck.

"Death to the White Fang," Weiss whispered back, her eyes narrow and hard as they stared into the eye slits of her foe's mask.

She wrenched the rapier free in one harsh movement, a thin spray of crimson following the silvery steel out of the woman's neck and onto the tile in an almost deliberate line. The woman choked and took a step back. She slumped over, grabbing her neck and gurgling her last breathes.

These fighters, burned and stabbed, were the first people Weiss had ever killed. It troubled her slightly, but the carnage around her was all the justification the younger Heiress Schnee would ever need for the rest of her life. She took no pleasure in killing; it was sometimes part of the job of being a Huntress.

Well, perhaps with the White Fang, Weiss took only _very little_ pleasure.

Weiss looked out at the White Fang numbers as they grew, more and more fighters taking fighting positions as fire poured down on them from her AK-200s. One was caught out and hit too many times for his Aura to save him, the blood flying from him as he was struck twice. The man fell over the edge screaming all the way to the first floor below, likely dying on impact.

The Heiress took in the battlefield under fire, deflecting rounds with her blade. Her remaining eleven AK-200s were in acceptable cover and each of these newer model designs carried large stores of ammunition, plenty for prolonged firefights. She had brought plenty of Dust for Myrtenaster and could hold for a long while against these numbers, the 'terrain' and the height advantage of the double staircases behind her only enhancing the strength of the position.

There was also the severe lack of cover over nearly forty meters of food court. Weiss knew that would serve her and her knights well.

Her tactical training, given by a tutor at the urging of her sister Winter, had paid off. With a few simple measures, Weiss Schnee had, for all purposes, forced the situation into a stalemate on ground that favored her heavily.

Weiss could live with a stalemate. With the resources at her disposal, she could hold for perhaps 10 to 15 minutes. The White Fang were fanatics, certainly, but they were not completely foolish. She knew they would hold at their cover until something changed. Hopefully, it would be the arrival of Atlesian authorities or the military or even perhaps a Hunter team.

The Heiress was certain the Kingdom of Atlas could spare some forces for the first family of the realm? It would only be a matter of time.

The standoff continued for a couple of minutes, Weiss weaving barriers as needed, not leaving her AK-200s as their covering fire was invaluable in keeping the enemy pinned down. As the Ice and Stone Dust chambers began to run low, the Heiress moved into cover behind a tall food cart.

She rotated Myrtenaster's ice cylinder to the reload port, opened it and pulled a vial filled with shimmering white-blue Dust from her pouch, popped off the cork and poured the contents in. Fire whizzed past and shattered part of the glass on the cart, a bit of spinach and lettuce flying about, staining one of her sleeves green.

"How uncivilized," Weiss sighed as she shook her head and closed the reload port. She moved the cylinder to the stone chamber, opened the port and refilled it with a vial of grey Stone Dust from her pouch. Weiss tossed the empty vial away, still having plenty more, and left the safety of her cover.

She stepped back before the elevator, ready to support her AK-200s once more. Weiss slowed to a halt and her blue eyes widened as she watched a pink and brown mop of hair slowly rise above the landing of the third floor on one of the staircases, a matching parasol nonchalantly held over the petite woman's head.

Neopolitan walked onto the landing out in the open and seemed to take in the situation. She placed her open umbrella on her right shoulder and started walking towards Weiss, glancing over at her shoulder and noting some dust on her white and pink coat's right lapel. She brushed it away with the back of her left hand's fingers, seemingly oblivious to the danger.

"Concentrate fire!"

The AK-200s poured the fire on. Neo held her umbrella before her, the rounds pattering off her parasol and the woman's stride unbroken.

Heavier fire began coming onto the AK-200's positions from the lower stairwells, the White Fang emboldened by the arrival of their answer to Weiss. At least another two dozen White Fang were storming the building below, no resistance left beyond the boots of the Huntress holding the third floor landing and her eleven knights.

Weiss raised her rapier as Neo stopped ten meters in front of her, the gunfire from both sides cutting off, the White Fang watching and the AK-200s likely programed to avoid firing too closely at an ally. Neo placed her umbrella back over her shoulder, leaned forward in a faint bow and smiled up at Weiss.

The Huntress did not move or say a word, keeping her eyes on the wily woman. She had seen her in action once and Yang had been forthright about the woman’s abilities in combat in the days after the incident with the train in Vale.

Neo lifted her left hand, extended the thumb and gesturing upward before drawing it across her throat with a suddenly sadistic grin and wide, wild eyes.

The Heiress narrowed her blue eyes, taking a proper fencing form. "Over my dead body."

Neo stood up straight and continued to stand before Weiss, challenging her with a smug grin to begin the duel. The Huntress Schnee was not so easily goaded, playing for time and not quick victory. Weiss maintained her form, keeping her eyes on not only Neo, but everything around her.

The small woman blinked, pink exchanging with brown.

"Shotgun-armed knights. Place two shots five meters to each of this woman's flanks every 25 seconds in random locations. Start now."

Two of the so-armed AK-200s complied, discharging the weapons twice each, one aiming well away from Neo's right shoulder and the other her left.

The illusion came down like shattering glass as the buckshot tore through it, Neo standing back a little further, her pink and white eyes slightly wide. The White Fang were still gathering, but did not advance.

Neopolitan seemed genuinely surprised.

"What do you take me for, a fool? You think I did not figure out your little trick?"

The Heiress smirked faintly as the shotguns barked again, the buckshot shattering another illusion before it could truly form.

"Now what will you do, illusionist?"

Neopolitan's eyes narrowed. They flicked to one shotgun armed knight and then the other. She held her head up and walked closer to Weiss.

The Heiress swiped Myrtenaster with the flick of a wrist, her opponent ducking under and closing enough to lash out with a kick. Weiss rolled back away and slashed behind herself as she did so with a quick, masterful motion, keeping Neo from getting too close to her knights.

Neopolitan deflected the attack with her umbrella and spun into another kick. The petite woman's boot found Weiss's face as she came back around and the Huntress' blade kissed Neo's cheek in kind, her Aura turning the bite of the rapier's tip into a slap that knocked her head to the left. Weiss stumbled backward, Neo stepping back and touching her cheek, finding it uncut, but her narrowing eyes making it plain she did not appreciate such a close call.

Weiss popped her neck, her Aura protecting her as well, and smirked back, as smug as Neo once was just a moment ago. She knew in her heart and logic she was a far better matchup for the petite woman than Yang was.

"Do I look like a rage-filled brawler to you, Crazy Eyes? My sword's reach is my greatest advantage over you. Yang told me all about your defensive martial arts and I shall not play your game, rogue. Now then, this is my home."

The Heiress took her fencing stance and motioned for Neo to come at her with the tip of her rapier. The shotguns sounded again, no illusion to break down this time.

"You will play my game. That or you can get the hell out!"

Neo sneered with clenched teeth and deployed the blade from her umbrella in a flash, Weiss attacking in response. The rapier and bladed umbrella flitted like silver fish in a clear pond, clashing in thrust, swipe and parry as the air whistled and the steel sang. Weiss rotated the cylinder of Myrtenaster to Fire Dust, ignited her blade and pressed on, her opponent stepping backward at the sight of a flaming sword.

A thrust came in, Weiss parrying. She moved to circle around Neo when out of the corner of her eye a large female White Fang fighter with tiger's tail reached the landing, a tube in her hands. Gunfire fell on the new threat from her knights immediately, but the large fighter loosed her rocket, the missile slamming into the stairwell to the left in a blast of fire and shrapnel, the explosion deafening.

The three Atlesian Knight 200s holding the stairwell were no more, the stairwell itself ruined and useless, cutting it off for the attack. The White Fang fighter slumping down dead from being riddled with Dust rounds that made it through her depleted Aura. She had sacrificed her life to better the odds of her comrades in arms.

Weiss shook off the pounding in her head and the stunning effect of the turn of events in time to raise her guard. Neopolitan's blade slid along Myrtenaster and cut into the Heiress's upper left shoulder past Aura, splitting her dress and dying the cloth scarlet as the wound burned with pain.

The Huntress dropped back, heedless of the light injury as gunfire was traded around them. Some shots came in against her and drew her guard, Weiss forming a glyph and raising a quick, protective barrier.

Neo slipped behind her and slashed, the Heiress’ right calf being barely grazed as Weiss rolled forward. Gunfire poured onto the petite woman and forced Neo to spin down and raise her umbrella, shielding herself. She jumped back from the gunfire, landed on her feet and lifted her left hand above her head.

Neo brought it down and the White Fang charged out from their cover far behind her.

"Open fire!" Weiss shouted as she retook her fencing form, every weapon in the hands of her knights being trained on the approaching White Fang.

Gunfire opened up as Weiss charged back at Neo. Both women quickly resumed their duel in the crossfire of tracers, another flurry of flashing strikes, blocks and two weaving blurs of motion, one white and blue, the other white, brown and pink.

Weiss blocked a close strike, coming face to face with Neo as blade and umbrella locked. What met the Heiress was a smug look, Neo's physical strength slightly greater as she started gaining leverage on the Huntress.

Weiss narrowed her eyes, an idea occurring to her. She heightened the flame on her blade and blew on it nonchalantly, sending burning Fire Dust embers into her foe's face.

" _Bitch._ "

Neo stumbled backward, rubbing her face frantically and losing her leverage. Weiss lunged for the kill. Shattering glass greeted her as her blade plunged into her foe, Neo coming from behind but quickly being blocked as the Heiress spun rapidly into a guard, putting on a master class of the duelist's art. Their weapons locked again, this time Myrtenaster out of position for another clever flourish of flame.

Neopolitan glared at Weiss with murderously wide eyes, their iris's thin circles of enraged white and brown around large pupils. Small burns freckeled her left cheek and near her left eye that still wafted smoke that smelt of burnt flesh, the barest hint of a glowing Fire Dust ember embedded within each burn.

That looked like it hurt. Weiss hoped deep down it hurt very badly.

The White Fang charge slowed and settled into sparse cover halfway through the food court, their loses mounting as nearly a dozen fell to gain them their new ground. It came at high cost for Weiss. Two of her knights were down and sparking on the right stairwell, a third slumped over the food cart that was its cover.

The duel was a stalemate as Weiss and Neo resumed, but the battle was quickly being lost. The Heiress cursed Neopolitan under her breathe, the petite woman demanding so much of her attention she could not protect her AK-200s from incoming gunfire anymore.

Another heavy weapons fighter reached the landing, letting loose a volley of grenades from a launcher. Neo dashed away as they came in, Weiss's eyes going wide. She drew a protective barrier quickly, trying to shield the last of her robotic guards, their fire keeping the White Fang at bay.

Neo halted her flight and pivoted back at Weiss like a world-class ballerina, lashing out with the bladed edge of her umbrella. Her blade slashed into the Heiress's right thigh just beneath the hem of her dress, filling the leg with pain. Weiss moved at the last second to avoid the follow-up attack of the umbrella, but Neo's boot went across her face.

This time the sting of the blow on her cheek through weakening Aura sent the Heiress to the ground, her ward left incomplete. She did not have time to feel the dread before deafening booms filled the food court, the atrium beyond and stairwells, the hot kiss of shrapnel flying through the redoubt Weiss and her knights were holding so dearly.

The Heiress got to her feet slowly, looking to the stairwells as her ears rung. Her Atlesian Knights were nothing more than twisted metal and spare parts now. She turned in time to block Neo's attack, the small woman's expression livid. The follow up of a boot to the stomach winded Weiss, sending her to the ground. Neo wound up for a killing blow, Weiss pulling a vial of Ice Dust from her pouch and slamming it into the tile beneath her to create a last ditch barrier.

Ice shot up in a wall, Neopolitan back-flipping away. She waited, raising a single hand and motioning the White Fang to prepare for the attack. The ice wall lasted for what seemed an eternity, more fighters moving from the lower floors onto the landing of the third floor.

A crack appeared in the wall, then another. It crumbled down as suddenly as it appeared.

Weiss was back on her feet, holding her rapier into the elevator, leaving a glowing glyph of red within. She walked forward and the glyph detonated, sending the elevator carriage crashing down into the basement levels, cutting off an avenue of advance to the White Fang.

If she could not stop them one way, then perhaps another? Anything to slow them down.

"You are not getting past this floor!"

Neo smirked and raised her pointed umbrella again. The Heiress took her fencing form in kind, motioning with Myrtenaster for Neo to bring it on, whirling the rapier in a flourish of silvery steel.

"Then come and try!"

The situation had grown desperate. Weiss Schnee could feel her Aura beginning to fade, but she would not go quietly into the mists of time. She would honor her family name. She would honor the title of 'Huntress' placed upon her by her tutors, her training in their eyes complete.

She would walk the line.

They lunged for each other at once, the White Fang shouting and charging, one of the stairwells to the fourth floor still intact. Weiss engaged Neo strike for strike, parry for roll. As the wave of fighters reached her, Weiss dropped back, spun out of Neo's killing lunge and whirled her weapon, forming a glyph of time.

The White Fang vanguard, a dozen men and women, slowed to crawl while posed in full run, their legs and arms moving in slow motion.

Neo was not afflicted and went for Weiss, the Heiress parrying her strike, ducked the follow-up of a spinning kick and back-handed Neo across her burned cheek. The petite woman staggered in time to see Weiss's fist connect with her nose, sending her to the tile with a crack as her head hit.

Neo laid still, apparently knocked unconscious.

Weiss tumbled away from both Neopolitan and the White Fang and created a summoning seal of swords glowing white in the air before her. She had indeed been practicing every facet of her powers. It was time to put one in particular to use.

It was time for one of her former foes to serve.

"Where are my manners?!"

The time glyph passed as a massive suit of shimmering white armor bearing a huge, similarly glimmering sword flashed into existence where the summoning glyph once was. It swept its gigantic blade from right to left, cutting down a dozen helpless White Fang in a bloody arc.

The charging fighters stopped and stumbling back in shock. The massive automaton advanced on them, heedless of the gunfire that immediately poured onto it. The bullets bounced from the glimmering white armor of the defender like nothing more than raindrops.

Weiss knew she could maintain the summon for perhaps a few minutes. She felt it might be long enough to drive the White Fang off in terror.

She hoped deep down it would be enough. Options were running low.

" **Allow me, Weiss Schnee, to see you all to hell!** "

The automaton brought down its sword, shattering the tile floor as it instantly killed two more fighters attempting to shoot it. Their bodies laid where the sword fell, dismembered and bloody.

The Heiress took her form and prepared to charge when a pink, white and brown streak flashed past her from the elevator shaft, pieces of illusionary glass shattering where Neo was supposedly lying unconscious to reveal nothing but tile.

Weiss grabbed her right side, stumbled another two steps before halting, her sword in her left hand slowly coming down and her right hand grabbing onto a steadily growing red stain on the side of her abdomen. Her concentration broke immediately from the intense pain filling her chest and belly like lightning.

The glowing white summon raised its sword once more, but fading from existence like a vanishing ghost.

"Damn it," Weiss groaned, the pain she was feeling fully evident on her reddening face and in her wide blue eyes. She slumped to her knees, Neopolitan standing before her amongst the sundered bodies of the White Fang Weiss's summon had laid low.

The short woman's eyes were wide and filled with sadistic hate, the crown of her umbrella's canopy and the blade beyond scarlet with the blood of the Schnee family.

Neo walked forward, the White Fang resuming their advance, though more cautiously now. Neopolitan stared down at Weiss, her gloved hand touching her lightly burned left cheek. She glowered and thrust, Weiss parrying. Her rapier was knocked away with a cry of pain as her bloody right hand moved from her wound to the small of her back.

Neo's stare was murderous. Weiss looked back defiant, not the slightest hint of defeat or dejection in her blue eyes as her chest rose and fell, laboring for air against the pain. She opened the pouch on her back out of sight, left with no other options.

"I've saved dozens. Perhaps hundreds. I have brought honor to my family name. What about you, criminal? What have you gotten out of all this?"

Neopolitan lifted her left hand and rubbed her thumb and index fingers together. Of course. Lien. She wound up once more, Weiss spitting into her face in a final insult. Neo brought her umbrella in for the killing blow, Weiss continuing to look into her in the eyes without fear, ready to meet a Huntress' end at her own hand.

A flash of black and white reached their eyes a split-second before the clash of Neo's blade on another and before Weiss could crush her right hand shut.

A black sword held the killing blow at bay.

Staring over the locked weapons was a pair of narrowed amber eyes and a porcelain white face curtained with jet black hair. Atop, a pair of angrily folded cat's ears.

Weiss smiled, laughing faintly, her right hand relaxing as she realized who her savior was.

"Good morning, Blake. It is good to see you."

"The feeling is mutual," the Faunus Huntress replied, not breaking eye contact with Neo.

Blake and Neo descended into melee like two blurs and a series of silver and black flashes. The petite woman landed a strike in Blake's stomach only to discover a stone statue of her foe. A black boot lashed across Neo's jaw and sent her flying ten meters and slamming into the tile in a roll.

The White Fang halted once more.

"The Traitor!" one shouted, leveling his weapon on Blake.

He was the first to know the cutting bite of Gambol Shroud's blade as it lashed out across his rifle and knocked it away. The bladed whip flashed around the assembled White Fang like a fleeting glimpse of death, cutting legs, arms and a large White Fang fighter's hand, knocking his great axe away.

The stone Blake crumbled, the Faunus standing behind it, whirling Gambol Shroud over her head. She reeled the weapon back in, but not before hooking it around Myrtenaster and bringing it to her waiting hand. She turned and offered Weiss her blade, the Heiress taking it and slowly getting to her feet.

Neopolitan stood as well, her brown and pink eyes alight with fury as she glared at the Heiress spared her killing strike.

Weiss looked Neo in the eyes and opened her bloody right hand, revealing four vials of Dust; two red, one orange and one yellow. Neo stared in wide-eyed shock at the makeshift bomb in the Huntress Schnee’s hand. All she would have had to of done was clench her hand and feed the slightest bit of Aura.

The bomb would have likely killed or at the least severely injured all in the food court. It would not have stopped the massacre as dozens more White Fang still ascended the stairs from lower floors, but it would indeed have been a Huntress' end.

Still, Weiss was not in the least disappointed in the turn of events. She was in no hurry to die.

"You should thank Blake, Crazy Eyes. I intended to take you and about two dozen more White Fang with me!” Weiss stood tall and held her head high. “This is my home! If I die here it shall be on my terms!"

Blake blinked with a bit of surprise and looked at Weiss.

"You've changed, Weiss." The Faunus Huntress smirked. "I like it."

"My father will be very upset," Weiss started before coughing, but still she stared down the White Fang and Neo in spite of her injuries, retaking her fencing form as she placed the vials back into her pouch.

"He will not like this at all, Blake."

"Why so?" Blake asked, looking back to the host before them. It continued to grow. This was indeed a massive effort. Easily well over a hundred fighters were sent against the Schnee Dust Corporation World Headquarters.

"He's going to have to hold his tongue when I introduce him to the woman who just saved his daughter's life. I see you have finally gained to confidence to stop wearing your bow."

Blake smirked, her cat ears twitching. Her white coat was stained at the edges and on the sleeves with blood, but she lacked any real injuries. She looked fresh for a fight.

"He'll get over it. Sooner or later."

Weiss eyed the blood stains on Blake's coat, wondering how much fighting her friend had seen. "You look like you have been very busy this morning."

"I helped your sister protect the peace mission. It should make it through and last I saw her, Winter was okay. She is an incredible woman, Weiss."

"Yeah, she is." The Heiress was very happy to know Winter was okay.

"Almost as impressive as her sister."

Weiss smiled ear to ear at the flattering compliment, sweating and bleeding slowly, the burden of her wounds apparent. Nonetheless, she was happy to have a friend at her side. Moreso, she felt ready to continue. With Blake here, there was a chance now.

And usually, where there was one...

"So, where is Yang?"

"Just finishing up with something outside. She will be here any moment."

More White Fang came up the steps, some of them very large and carrying heavy melee weapons. Neo held both ends of her umbrella in shaking hands, her eyes wild and filled with barely contained rage as her teeth clenched between parted lips.

"So," Weiss started, glancing to Blake, "shall we take the fight to them?"

Blake shook her head, the sound of a loud, female scream reaching their ears, the flames in the lower atrium intensifying. Weiss blinked and looked, watching a massive shadow grow on a mosaic tile map of Remnant that covered the far wall of the second and third floors.

Many of the White Fang looked behind them at the growing shadow, Neo slowly turning her head to see as well. Weiss' eyes grew wide and her blue irises seemed to shrink about large pupils as surprise and more than a bit of fear filled her heart.

A dragon's shadow spread its wings across the map of Remnant.

Weiss could not believe her eyes. That simply could not be happening. A primal chill of fear ran up the Heiress' spine as her adrenalin heightened. Something deep down wanted to run, but the Huntress held her ground. She looked to Blake, still very afraid.

"Wha... what?! Blake, what is going on?!"

Blake looked her in the eyes, smiling. "We have nothing to fear. Weiss, we need to hold here and watch each other's backs. Otherwise, Yang will be upset with me."

The Faunus Huntress looked back to the map of Remnant and the massive shadow upon it, still smiling as the attack began below, the flames rising. The Heiress looked back at the shadow as it began to move, still not certain if her eyes were playing tricks on her from the pain and bleeding.

Weiss’ thoughts raced. It could not be. Could it?

"Yang?!"

The gathered White Fang turned from the sight unfolding below and seemed to prepare for a charge. Neopolitan glared at the Huntresses, likely realizing the ploy she was now trapped within.

"Get ready, Weiss,” Blake began. “We are the anvil. The hammer is about to fall."


	27. Terrible and Beautiful to Behold

A large body sailed through the shattered windows of the first floor of Schnee Dust Corporation World Headquarters and went tumbling across the scorched and bloody marble. Blackie laid dead on the ground, his beard and hair wafting smoke and his eyes locked open wide. His body was battered and broken, blood running from his mouth and nose.

The White Fang fighters still on the burning first floor turned and watched as a feminine figure walked towards them through the sheets of fire, not affected in the least. Her shadow cast out with the flames at her back that of a young woman.

Yang strode towards them, a bronze skinned statue of a woman sporting three lighter colored scars across her toned, muscular belly. Yang's glowing red eyes started out at them, curtained by her glowing, unruly golden mop leaving embers in a trail behind her as she moved. Her leather vest hung torn open, her yellow tube top nicked at the top and sporting a few small holes, revealing a little skin in addition to the cleavage on display. Her orange cape flowed behind her, singed at the edges by the fire and smoking faintly, many holes punched in it.

She walked with all eyes on her to the massive, white marble snowflake set in the floor, the symbol of the Schnee Family and Company now stained in blood, debris and scorch marks. Her upper right shoulder sported a shallow stab wound that bled slowly and the back of her left thigh bore a thin break in her tan pants and a cut within the split of blood stained fabric.

Inferno Celica sported a number of metallic-hued scratches in the yellow, her battle with Blackie furious, if short. A bit of blood ran from the left side of her mouth, his war club finding her face in their duel.

Her glowing scarlet eyes took in the scene. The fire, the shattered glass, damaged reception counter and the dead. A tragedy had occurred here. The White Fang continued to watch her from the steps to the second floor, over the railing of the second floor landing and all around her on the first floor.

"White Fang, I am Yang Xiao Long! What you have done today is unforgivable, but I will give you all a chance to stop! Throw down your weapons and surrender at once!"

The White Fang looked at each other, seemingly confused. Some of them laughed, a few more joining in.

Yang maintained her composure. She tried it Adler's way just to see if there was a chance it would work. She was not surprised it did not.

One of the larger White Fang shouted in a 'hoop', hefted his great axe and charged headlong at Yang. As the massive, oxen-horned man closed on her Yang set into the defensive stance her father taught her.

The fighter swung downward at the end of his charge and Yang lashed out with her left hand, grabbing the haft of the axe and stopping it an inch from her nose, her grip tightening on the weapon, her hair flaring up and her eyes glowing brighter. The large man tried to force the weapon forward, his mask meeting Yang's gaze. She smiled up at him with pearly white teeth stained with blood and kicked him in the groin.

The large man groaned, his grip on his weapon relaxing as he slumped down. Yang took the axe from him, spun it about and slammed the weapon into the man's face with one hand, shattering his mask in two and killing him instantly. Yang stared down at the dead man resting on his knees and lifted a boot, kicking him completely clear with a buckshot send off and into the receptionist station a good thirty meters away from her.

Her solid red eyes fell back on the host.

"That was your answer. Now you will hear mine."

Yang's used her will to put herself back into the absolute worst moments of loss, failure, pain and deepest sorrow. The hint of burning venom kissing her veins and heart shifted into an almost boiling sensation in her blood. Pain graced here where her right arm's flesh met machine. Her mother's disapproving, pitiless stare filled her mind. Her father laid dying in her arms. Blake knelt before Adam, accepting her execution.

She attempted to take her own life in her mind's eye with Vanquisher.

Yang screamed at the top of her lungs as anguish and pain ran rampant in her heart and mind. At the very eye of the whirling, raging firestorm of emotion her unbreakable will sat upon a throne of poison in a castle of sorrow built on the brow of a mountain of pure pain like a ruthless yet ultimately just and fair handed empress of old.

Her sclera turned jet black, her pupils to glowing white pinpoints of light, flames leaking from the edges of her eyes like tears as the irises glowed bright, blood red. Her hair became a golden inferno, her skin glowing with inner, almost golden light and her heart within her chest brighter still, giving an almost poetic backlight to the black flaming heart upon her tube top. Her cape flowed in unseen winds as heat emanated from Yang, steam rising from under her gauntlets and greaves.

As she fed every last scrap of pain to her Semblance, Yang suddenly became aware of the fires around her. She could almost feel them tingling on her skin. She realized, almost instinctively, that it was resonating with her Semblance. It almost felt like an extension of her will.

Yang grinned wide, almost eager to see a grandiose elemental manifestation of her Semblance. If Adler could call the storm...

" **Now!! Watch me burn!!** "

The fire all around burned with greater intensity and heat, reacting to Yang's presence in unnatural ways that defied laws of physics and even Dust engineering. She willed the fire come and the flames swept in upon her, engulfing her in heat.

It did so little as singe her cape or warm her skin. The fire washed over her like nothing more than hot air.

She threw out her arms, parting the fire from herself. The White Fang backed away slowly, clenching their weapons tight. Yang's screaming continued, flames flashing before her mouth like mist would in the cold.

On the large, damaged mosaic tile mural of the map of Remnant behind her above the front doors of the building her draconic shadow was cast solid black, wings outstretched and mouth open in a roar. The White Fang stopped backing away, steeling themselves for what was to come.

Everyone witnessing knew something very bad was about to happen.

The scream stopped as Yang snapped her mouth shut, the only noise the building fire alarm. Everyone had fallen silent. The Human Huntress lowered her stance and grinned wider than she ever had in her life, her face the picture of a most terrible nightmare. She charged, shattering tile with each footfall, her cape fluttering behind her like orange wings.

" **I WILL DROWN YOU IN FLAMES!!!** "

A large fighter moved forward with his halberd to intercept, sweeping with the weapon. It cut through flame, Yang re-appearing inside the weapon's reach. Her fist slammed into his chest and a report sounded, the larger man going flying, his weapon clattering to the ground as Yang continued running.

The White Fang swarmed her at the base of the stairs and attempted to stop her. Those closest managed to reach her. Those not close enough, a full dozen or more, were caught in a wave of flame as it roiled and scoured in Yang’s wake like a swirling storm of napalm. Their screams of terror as their clothing and hair ignited filled the atrium.

They would burn to death. _They would be the lucky ones._

A blade came in high and a mace low. Yang grabbed the mace arm of the stag horned Faunus wielding it and hurled him into the sword, impaling him on it through the chest and slamming his body into the cat tailed woman wielding the blade. They fell to the ground in a heap, one dying and the other stunned.

Yang's left gauntlet came up, a blow deflecting off it with a clang and she followed up with a right cross, shattering another foe's mask and whipping his head around, Fire Dust double-ought buck scouring his face with flame. She grabbed the stunned man and backhanded him with her right arm, released him and let him fall in her wake, fire consuming him seconds later.

Gunfire began raining down on her from the top of the stairs as she ran up them, raising her guard and charging into the guns. As she closed she vanished in a burst of flame and appeared from another behind the White Fang with rifles, spinning into a roundhouse kick and sending two flying off the landing and to the fiery first floor below.

Her fists flashed like yellow blurs, shotgun blasts running together as she punched out three more opponents in a row. Yang grabbed the last fighter's rifle as the female Fanus tried to level it on the Huntress. Yang wrenched the weapon away and took the rifle's stock across her foe’s face in a spray of blood and a crack of bone, sending the White Fang fighter over the railing screaming into the inferno.

White Fang from the first floor came running up at Yang on the stairwells, the Human greeting them on the landing, blocking a curved sword with her right arm's gauntlet and jumping into a kick, planting her boot into the man's face with a thunderous report and sending him head over heels back down to the ground floor, dead on impact.

Two more thrust spears at her, the Huntress grabbing one shaft and snapping the weapon in the fighter's hand, taking the length still in her own and throwing the weapon into the second's chest, impaling him through a lung.

Yang grabbed the dying man with half a spear sticking out of his chest and hurled him over her shoulder. She fired her left gauntlet twice into the other fighter holding a broken weapon in stunned disbelief, peppering him with flaming Dust buckshot and sending him falling back down the steps on fire.

A heavy blow fell on Yang's back, pain filling her ribcage as a large hammer slammed into her. She stumbled two steps and fell to a knee. The Huntress coughed, turned her head and locked eyes with her assailant as the tusked female fighter came around. Yang's wide eyes were the picture of hell, her smile telling her enemy all she needed to know about the nature of the Huntress now.

Of the terrible, terrible mistake the large White Fang fighter had just made.

"My turn." Flames licked from Yang’s lips as she hissed the words.

Yang jumped into a roundhouse kick and took her boot and greave across the large woman's face, stumbling her. The Human Huntress landed and threw a punch, then another, then more, each blow punctuated by a report. The large White Fang fighter staggered backward as Yang pushed into her guard. She grabbed the woman by the throat with her left hand and punched her twice in the gut, robbing her of air and wit.

The Huntress looked over at two more large, heavily armed White Fang fighters, one with a great sword and the other with a pair of falchions. The Human mercilessly crushed the windpipe of the Faunus, choking her to death with one clenching hand. Her draconic shadow lifted the large shadow of the woman in an arm, wings resplendent. While the Faunus was larger than Yang, her foe’s shadow paled in comparison to the dragon projected by the flames.

"What about you two?!" More fire accompanied her words.

The White Fang fighter with the great sword, a pair of ram’s horns upon his head, held fast to the weapon and stood his ground, adopting a stance and shouting at the top of his lungs.

"For the White Fang!"

The second, his hair long and red with a pair of eight-point antlers atop his head, raised his blades and spaced them apart, his left further from him than his right.

"Death to Humanity!"

Yang hurled the dead female Faunus away over her shoulder like an empty bottle and screamed back, lowering into her defensive stance, admiring their courage, but nonetheless willing to end them both.

"Fire and Death! Honor and Glory!"

They charged each other with gusto, Yang rolling under the sweeping strike of the great sword and to her feet, immediately engaging in combat with the twin falchion armed fighter. They whirled in melee as rank and file White Fang fighters continued on up the stairways, heading for the third floor.

Whirling blades kept Yang at bay, the reach of the falchions considerable. The Huntress had to dodge the occasional fall of the great sword, but kept her wits about her in spite of all the emotion and pain she was calling upon to feed her Semblance at its highest expression. Indeed, within she was completely calm.

Yang managed to block an attack from a falchion and was cut across her right thigh by the other, sending her blood to the tile and onto her pants and boot. However, she managed to get inside her foe's impressive guard.

Yang launched her right fist into his mask, staggering him. She backed away as another fall of the great sword came, the foe armed with it able to move the weapon and attack with it without much loss in speed or guard. The Human launched a barrage of shadow-punches, firing her gauntlets off each time, battering the large Faunus with ram’s horns with flaming buck, forcing him to raise his guard and back off.

Her head whipped back around in time to see a falchion coming in for a killing blow. Yang grabbed the blade in her right hand and used the momentum of the attack to carry her, lifting her feet from the ground. She whirled her legs up with the strength in her waist and slammed both her boots into her assailant's head before being flung away, knocking him off balance.

Yang slammed to the ground and rolled to a kneel. A White Fang regular preparing to go up to the third floor swung his hand axe at the Human, only for her to rock onto her back, spin around and kick him in the face, sending him stumbling away.

The Huntress spun back up to her feet and punched the interloper in the arm, breaking it with a resounding blast. She turned her attention back on the large two White Fang and charged again, firing her greaves off and jumping over them in a tumble. Yang landed behind them and lunged in, battering the falchion-armed foe as he turned to meet her, Her fists fell on him like merciless, twelve gauge hammers, finally beating down his resilience and Aura.

A fist connected with his chest, Inferno Celica going off as he shuddered. Another fell upon his mask, knocking his head and antlers to the left. A third plunged into his upper right arm, the falchion in that hand falling to the ground with a clatter.

Yang back-flipped away in time to evade a blow from the great sword, landed on her feet and used the shotguns in her greaves to launch her into a haymaker. She planted her right fist into the face of the great sword armed Faunus, knocking him away in a stumble.

Both of her foes reeled. Yang singled out the one with the great sword and grabbed his left shoulder with her left hand. She mercilessly punched him over his shoulder in the face with her right. On the eighth blow of the assault the mask shattered under her fist and fiery buckshot along with blood, skull fragments and grey matter flew from out the back of the man's head, splaying upon the floor.

Yang turned in time to block a strike from the antlered Faunus with a raised left leg, the blade clanging off her greave and sliding away from her. The Human Huntress jumped into another roundhouse and with a kick and report sent her foe stumbling back. Yang was on him like a flash, grabbing his belt by the buckle with her cybernetic right hand and slamming her left into his stomach full on. She followed it with a punch to his chest, the loud crack reaching her ears even over the blast of Inferno Celica telling Yang she broke his sternum and probably a rib or two.

The large man doubled over, Yang releasing his belt and taking her right fist across his face, sending him to the ground in a heap.

Dust rounds ricocheted and pattered off the tile around her, her infernal gaze snapping to the White Fang on the steps to the third floor landing. She turned and charged them, firing off her greaves and tumbling through the air, landing on one of the three fighters shooting at her, breaking his back beneath her boots against the edges of the marble steps.

She reached out, batted away a rifle aimed at her and shot the White Fang fighter with two quick blasts from her right gauntlet. Yang grabbed her foe by her hair and threw the dog eared woman from the steps down to the second floor landing. The other two raised their rifles and backed away up the stairs, Yang stalking off after them and finally arriving on the third floor landing food court.

Before her was yet another host of White Fang, but what was beyond them caught her eye. A collapsed stairwell, a destroyed elevator and Blake and Weiss, engaged in a fight with that pink and brown haired woman Yang hated so very much.

They were nothing more than flashes and blurs. Glass shattered as Neo evaded a counter attack, the Faunus Huntress and Heiress not chasing after her, instead watching each other's backs.

Both women were holding on. Weiss looked to be in rough condition, but Blake seemed fine, much to her relief. They had halted the entire attack.

Now the White Fang were the ones who were trapped. Yang raised her fists and cocked her gauntlets and greaves, expending smoking Dust shells. The duel halted, Neopolitan catching sight of the inhuman visage of Yang Xiao Long, the Human Huntress sporting few wounds and yet covered in blood. Below her, the fires began to rage out of control, the ceiling above them all covered in a draconic shadow.

Yang could see the faintest hint of fear in Neopolitan's eyes as the petite woman likely realized she was not looking at a normal Huntress. Yang took a deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs, flames before her mouth as the white pinpoints that were her pupils grew brighter and her red irises gleamed, more stream rising from beneath her gauntlets and greaves.

Blake placed her arm around a stunned, wide-eyed Weiss and ushered her aside to the remaining stairwell, getting up it a few steps and clear of what was about to unfold.

Now it was time to bring the hammer down.

Yang continued to scream as she charged. Weiss watched on in horrified wonder like a child looking into the fires of hell as Yang fell upon the White Fang.

The flames in the lower floors grew higher as yellow flashes of fists and feet accompanied by the booms of shotgun blasts took life after life, blood and bone fragments flying. The White Fang fought on with undeniable courage, but flame caught upon their uniforms and their weapons in kind fell upon Yang and slid off her Aura like they would from ancient scales.

In the midst of the melee a hammer slammed into Yang's face and sent her flying into a wall, cracks running through it as she impacted. Her nose began to bleed, but did not break. Her mind swam, but her will did not falter. She fell to her hands and knees and was immediately swarmed, weapons coming down upon her.

"I am a Huntress!"

Three of the White Fang were sent flying as Yang got to her feet. She hurled a punch into the large foe's face, his hammer falling from his grasp as a flurry of punches and shotgun blasts followed, his mask breaking and his neck audibly snapping backward.

"I will keep fighting!"

Neo slipped in from the crowd and cut Yang's abdomen shallowly with her cane sword. For her trouble, Yang whirled her elbow into the back of the petite woman's head, sending her slamming into the wall behind her. Neopolitan got up quickly, stumbled away and shattered into glass as Yang threw another punch at her.

Neopolitan stumbled through the crowd to the back ranks of the White Fang, bloodied at the nose She stared at Yang, likely in disbelief that her attack had so little effect.

"I will survive!"

Two large White Fang fighters closed on her, Yang blocking a strike from a large axe only to be struck on the back with a heavy mace, the blow echoing through her body and so loud Blake and Weiss could hear it, the Faunus looking up from the nearly fear-stricken Heiress with wide yellow eyes.

Yang's lungs emptied from the force, but she drew air back in like taking a normal breathe. Her legs wanted to buckle and wobble, but they did nothing of the sort, her will forbidding such a show of weakness. Even the jolt to her spinal cord found no purchase.

Another blow came from the axe, Yang raising her gauntlet again, the blade shearing off against her guard, sparks of metal on metal flying as it passed her and hit the ground. She pulled in a deep breathe, her lungs and back practically on fire from the pain, only adding to her Semblance.

" **I!!** "

Yang turned and grabbed the incoming mace by the head with both hands.

" **WILL!!** "

The Human Huntress hurled the weapon away from herself and lunged into the attacker as his guard was compromised, burying her right fist in his chest.

" **NEVER!!** "

His ribs cracked and gave way under the blow before he was sent flying on a shotgun blast out over the railing and into the firestorm below.

" **BOW!!** "

Yang grabbed the other large White Fang fighter by the face as he turned to attack again. She closed her cybernetic hand slowly, breaking cheekbones and eye sockets with the Aura-backed metal hand, remorselessly destroying her foe’s face behind his shattering mask.

A regular White Fang fighter ran up boldly and smashed the butt of his rifle across Yang's face. The weapon broke against her and clattered to the tile in pieces, Yang glaring at the slowly backing away White Fang fighter's mask. She dropped the dying man in her hand, deployed Eternal Survivor and ran the now disarmed fighter before her through.

The blade retracted and the man collapsed, clutching his belly as he slowly bled out. Yang walked up on top of a small pile of the dead and looked down on the remaining three dozen White Fang, all of them staring up at her, slowly backing away.

Yang's eyes searched through them and fell on Neopolitan, the Huntress glowering at the slowly backing away woman.

The Human Huntress pulled Furiosa, cocked the hammer as she took aim and fired at Neo. The booming report and bright muzzle flash was met with the shattering of illusionary glass. The Huntress looked around quickly, but found no sign of the petite woman.

She teleported to the railing in a flash of flame and looked down, Neo landing upon the marble tiles of the first floor in a break in the firestorm. Yang cocked the hammer and fired Furiosa again, the petite woman weaving to her left as the bullet slammed into the marble floor.

"What's the matter?! Don't want to fight anymore?!" Flames licked from Yang's mouth as she reached out with her will and sent the inferno after Neo. "I'm going to kill you! One limb at a time!"

The fire chased Neopolitan as Yang cocked and fired Furiosa again. Neo's umbrella came up and opened, the round tearing a third of the fabric and support arms apart, but missing the target proper.

"If you come near anything I care for again I will eat your fucking eyes!" Yang screamed as she cocked Furiosa again and intensified the flames along the shattered windows and doors into a wall of fire. The holographic site projected up and advised her lead the target a bit more.

"If they are pink and brown will they taste like strawberry and chocolate ice cream?!"

Furiosa barked out its last round as Neo jumped through the flames open umbrella first. The round flew through the wall of fire, the holographic site losing the target.

Neopolitan had run away, forsaking her erstwhile allies.

Yang holstered her revolver and turned, finding the White Fang still standing in silent shock. Their confidence was long gone a minute or two earlier, but now Yang could see fear taking deep root in spite of their masks.

If their champion had fled, what hope did they have? She decided to capitalize on their slowly growing terror as she walked towards them, her flaming gaze narrowing.

"You fuckers don't have enough guns, swords, hammers, axes, guts and goddamn balls between a thousand of you to kill me!!" Flames flashed before her mouth as she shouted, the fire in the lower floors licking up around the railing of the third floor.

Yang's shadow loomed threateningly as she held her right arm up before her, a bloody Eternal Survivor springing from her cybernetic limb.

"If you do not throw down your weapons right the fuck now I will kill every last one of you!!" The fire accompanying her words before her lips was intense. "You will deserve every blood-soaked second of it!!"

Yang screamed again, louder than before. The flame before her mouth lengthened into a half meter long torch as her cape flowed behind her. Her eyes scanned the food court, the White Fang still holding to their weapons. Many shook and every mask was focused on her.

However, a few tightened the grips on their weapons. One male Faunus with orange cat ears sticking out of his white hair took off his mask and tossed it aside. He glared at Yang with a blue eye and a yellow eye, scowling at the woman.

"Death to Humanity!"

"For the White Fang!" many of the others called out.

If anything, she had to admire their convictions and defiance. Now they would pay for it.

" **YOUR CALL ASSHOLES!!** "

Yang lunged at them and the panic amongst the White Fang began in earnest. The Heiress began to scream into her hand over her mouth, watching on as Yang grabbed the cat-eared Faunus' arm and bloodily ripped from his body with her bare hands before everyone's very eyes.

Blake shushed into her ear as she bound the wound on the woman's side with an emergency bandage from her coat. She glanced over the railing of the staircase, watching her lover fight and kill with wanton fury.

"Blake, she's... she's..." Tears poured from Weiss's blue eyes as Yang grabbed up another foe and tore him in two as the waist. "She's..."

"A Dragon. Fire and death incarnate. Terrible and beautiful to behold." Blake tied off the bandage and watched as Yang punched through an attacker's head, destroying it in a spray of mask pieces, skull fragments, bloody muscle and gray matter.

Blake covered Weiss's eyes and hugged her, but did not avert her own. She was almost hypnotized by the slaughter. Her eyes widened as the Faunus Huntress watched on.

"Don't watch anymore."

Above the battle Yang's massive black shadow was cast by the building inferno; a dragon rampant with wings outstretched and mouth open in perpetual roar as Yang screamed in equal parts pain and fury.

Blake did not avert her eyes from the massacre unfolding. " _Don't watch anymore…_ "

Powerful weapons fell upon Yang, cutting skin through slightly fading Aura and drawing faint bits of blood, but finding no purchase beyond. Her reply was swift and terrible, punches and kicks punctuated by twelve gauge reports or with her sword impaling the target and wrenching through in a bloody arc.

Within a minute two of the three dozen lay dead, many badly maimed and some missing heads or limbs. Blake did not once avert her eyes, the woman's amber gaze wide in shock and wonder.

Weapons began clattering to the ground, members of the White Fang holding their open palms before their masked faces, their terror undeniable. As Yang's baleful presence came upon them Blake held her breathe.

Yang passed, leaving those who surrendered unharmed. Those who continued to fight, however, met a swift and brutal death.

Within ninety seconds, it was all over.

Yang stood terrible and victorious, nearly every White Fang fighter caught between her and her teammates dead or rapidly dying. Eight had surrendered, all falling to their knees and cowering behind the palms of their hands.

She retracted Eternal Survivor into her cybernetic arm and shifted her arms and legs slightly, ejecting spent Dust shells. Her clothing and cape were covered in the blood and bone fragments of her foes.

Yang's burning eyes took in the massacre and the surrendered White Fang before turning to the remaining stairwell. Looking back was Blake and in her arms Weiss, the Heiress' face buried in the Faunus' chest. Blake seemed equally shaken and awestruck, but Weiss was evidently terrified.

Weiss slid away from the dragon before them as Blake released her and rose to her feet. She came around from the steps and stood before the bronze skinned woman, heedless of her demonic visage.

Against the wall, the shadow of beauty stood fearless before the massive beast.

The Faunus Huntress reached out and placed the flat of her palm on Yang's upper chest, the heat coming off her glowing skin intense, but not quite enough to burn. Her lover’s heart pounded strong and true within as it glowed.

Yang closed her eyes and took a deep breathe, never having lost control, but now needing to put strong emotions and memories back where they belonged. The sting of the venom in her blood subsided. She no longer wished to feel that pain, so she simply ceased to.

The glow left her skin and heart, revealing her body was covered in dozens of faint cuts that bled very little, each from the bite of a blade that was mostly stopped by Aura. Her bronze skin bore numerous marks that would turn to bruises with a little time, each from a bludgeon or bullet mostly turned back. Her hair ceased to burn and reverted to blonde as her cape stopped flowing in unseen currents.

Yang sighed, opening her eyes, now purple again. Her shadow shrank in the blink of an eye to that of an eighteen year old young woman only slightly taller than her lover's.

She smiled at Blake, a bit dry blood at the left side of her mouth. "Hello beautiful."

Blake smiled back, cradling Yang's chin in her hand, a splash of vermillion across the Human's right cheek from some foe she dismembered with her bloody hands.

"Are you okay, sunshine?"

"I'll be fine. Did you two see how fast that little bitch bolted?"

"You threatened to eat her eyes!" Weiss cried out. "What the hell was that about?!"

"It was just a threat," Yang replied with the tug of a laugh in her tone. "I wasn't going to actually eat her eyes, just kill her."

Blake narrowed her amber gaze on Yang's almost gleaming purple. "It sounded like you wanted to."

Yang shrugged, breaking eye contact with Blake. It would be a lie to say, in the moment, that the notion of following through on the threat did not cross her mind. She felt the tug of power's intoxicating call, but Yang would not allow herself to become a true monster. The carnage around her was as far down that road as she would go.

It was brutality that served a noble purpose. The defense of the innocent. One might question if her means justified her ends, but none could argue with the effectiveness of her method.

"Maybe a little, but you know me kitten."

Her lover nodded. "You'd never do something like that. You might have torn her limb from limb like you also threatened, though."

"Probably."

The faint noise of Weiss fighting back her retching stomach reached their ears. It seemed the Heiress was not fully prepared to bear witness to the extent of Yang's power and what the application of it would do to those not so powerful. Indeed, the food court would likely never be a place Weiss would be comfortable having a meal ever again.

Blake looked to Weiss and sighed. Her eyes fell back on Yang. "I was getting a little worried there, sunshine."

"That I was going to get hurt?"

The Faunus Huntress shook her head and looked at one of the surrendered. "That you wouldn't stop killing once that man took off his mask and refused your offer."

Yang noticed there was a faint sadness in Blake's amber eyes as she took in the charnel house that was now the third floor food court. All around them were at least seventy dead Faunus, many of them badly maimed or even dismembered in some fashion. More than one headless body slumped against a food cart, planter or knocked over table.

Blood was everywhere.

These men and women were Blake's enemies, but Yang was certain such death and destruction visited upon those of her species she once called her allies was somewhat tragic in her lover's eyes. These dead would never have the opportunity to be brought around or see things the way Blake now did.

"You gave them quarter..." Blake's tone was impassive and flat. She was fighting back emotion.

Yang nodded once.

The Faunus Huntress gestured to one of the kneeling White Fang. "What do we do with them?"

Yang snapped her gaze over her shoulder at the majority of the surrendered. "You eight. On your feet and hands on your heads. Do as we say and you will not die here."

Seven of the remaining White Fang complied, slowly getting to their feet.

The eighth went for a rifle and raised it, only to meet Gambol Shroud's blade splitting his mask. Blood slowly flowed from behind the mask and down the man's stubble covered chin. The Faunus Huntress pulled the weapon back, the offending fighter falling dead.

Blake stared down the remaining seven with harsh yellow eyes and twitching cat ears, Yang watching in stoic silence. 

"Haven't enough died today, brothers and sisters?! Look around you!" Blake gestured with her hand at the dead Humans along the wall and then all around to the sundered and broken bodies of the White Fang.

"No more death! No more killing! There's been enough today!"

Blake turned away, a tear running down from her right eye as she passed Yang on her way back towards Weiss. "No more..."

Yang placed a hand on Blake's shoulder, the woman halting. She felt the painful sting of guilt. She had emotionally hurt Blake.

"I'm sorry, Blake. I'm sorry you had to see me do this. I... I..."

Her lover looked her in the eyes and smiled faintly, tears at the edges of her yellow gaze. Blake's expression was saddened, but she did not seem upset with Yang.

"I once told you that you reminded me of someone close. Someone who did terrible things, but tried to justify them. Adam never took prisoners, Yang. He killed those who fought back and surrendered alike."

Yang's lips parted with a bit of surprise. Adam was the one Blake compared her to that dark day during the Vytal Festival when she asked if Blake believed her. In retrospect, perhaps Yang should have known.

"Adam may cast a man's shadow," Blake whispered, "but he has the heart of a monster. You cast a monster's shadow, but Yang... you have a heart of pure gold. It's what I love most about you. This tragedy is not your fault. You just had to do what you had to do to keep it from getting worse.”

Yang smiled warmly, a bit of mist coming to her purple eyes. Some of the weight of her injuries and emotions lifted, just slightly. She rubbed Blake’s back, the Faunus Huntress composing her emotions.

Weiss shuddered a little, still sitting on the steps. The Heiress was flattening the edges of her skirt with what appeared to be nervous energy. She pointed at Yang, a bit of composure back in an instant.

"I need an explanation."

Yang walked over to Weiss, the Heiress reflexively sliding away a little. Yang stopped and lifted her blood stained hands, motioning she would not come closer.

"Weiss, calm down. It's me."

"It has been a very... _difficult_ morning, Yang." Weiss took a deep breathe, but managed to make eye contact. "Where have you been? What have... what have you become?"

"It's a long story," Yang started, lowering her hands. "After what happened on Patch I underwent some training and, well, now I can do what saw. It’s a little wild, I know. I’m sorry you had to see all that."

Weiss seem to calm a bit more, nodding. "I heard news from your father that you had survived the incident on Patch months ago. I received a single letter from Blake and yourself explaining you were both well and thanking me for your new arm."

Yang raised the cybernetic and flexed the fingers, the metallic limb still shedding the occasional drop of blood from within the joints. "Thanks, by the way. This thing is amazing."

The Heiress watched another drop of blood fall from the limb she provided. She took another breath, shut her eyes and nodded. Her eyes reopened, a little less fear in them.

What else did she expect Yang to do with it?

"You are most welcome. After that letter, however, nothing. Absolutely nothing from either of you or from Ruby. I know messages are hard to get through, father had to pay quite the fee to get my message to both of you, but I... I just..."

"You missed your friends."

Weiss took a deep breath and glanced out at the prisoners. "Perhaps we should discuss this later."

Yang noted the destroyed Atlesian Knights on the steps beyond Weiss. She spotted a few more before the elevator and finally took in the damage that was done to the primary access point to the fourth floor and all floors beyond.

She was very impressed.

"Weiss, was this you and Blake..."

The Heiress straightened her back a little and held her head high. "Blake assisted me in the final moments of my defense of my home and the employees of my family. Before then, I held this position for as long as possible."

Blake glanced over from the assembling prisoners. "I do have a question. Why didn't the White Fang just use the fire stairwells?"

"Security locked the fire exits down between the third and fourth floors in the first moments of the attack. Those defenses consist of reinforced, armor-grade steel shutters backed with an energy field and overseen by sentry guns." Weiss gestured into the distance, one of the fire exit doors torn down and a few dead White Fang just within. "We had many contingency plans and measures in place to deal with terrorist attacks. However, the numbers..."

Yang could sense Weiss was getting a little emotional even through her cool facade.

"My... people..."

"Are safe now, with no small thanks to you, Weiss." Yang reached her left hand down and grabbed her friend's shoulder, the Heiress not pulling back as more blood stained her dress. "You held the only way up to get them."

Weiss looked at Yang, her voice a whisper. "But so many died."

"Because of you, a lot of people lived today," Blake started. "I saw what this looked like before Yang got here. You did a great job considering the insane circumstances, Weiss. You couldn't have done anymore than you did."

"I could have-"

"You couldn't help the people on the first two floors, Weiss," Blake assured, keeping her eyes on the prisoners. "Nobody could. Once you got here, though, did the White Fang make it past you?"

Weiss shook her head, taking a deep breathe. "No."

"Weiss, I'm proud of you," Yang began, feeling pride in her friend's desperate defense welling up. "You spat in the face of fate. You refused to back down in the face of the impossible. Weiss, that takes some nerve and a lot of guts."

"I couldn't let anymore innocent people die." The Heiress hung her head a little.

"You didn't. You fought with honor and brought glory to the Schnee name, Weiss. You took a big step today in bettering your family name across Remnant. Your father and sister will be proud of the woman you have become." Yang squeezed her friend's shoulder a bit and lowered her voice. "I know I am."

Weiss blinked, covered her mouth and looked back up at Yang, evidently moved by her high praise. "Who are you and what have you done with Yang?"

"I asked her the same question," Blake remarked wistfully.

"I am still me, Weiss. Trust me." Yang took her hand from Weiss' shoulder and offered it to her, the Heiress taking it and being helped to her feet. "We have to go. The fire is getting out of hand and is going to destroy this building."

"I shall not go. This is my home. I will abandon it to no man, no creature and no disaster."

The Heiress took a deep breath, steadying herself. She walked past Yang and Blake to the landing overlooking the inferno. Weiss pulled a few vials of blue Water Dust from her belt pouch and rotated Myrtenaster's cylinder to an equally blue chamber.

She began weaving her blade about her, a blue glyph appearing beneath her feet. More blue glyphs began appearing on the walls and ceiling above the atrium of the first and second floor.

The Heiress tossed out the vials and slashed the tip of Myrtenaster through them as part of the motions of weaving glyphs, adding large sums of Dust to the ritual. Water began flowing from the glyphs, first slowly and then like a torrent of heavy rain.

Yang and Blake, along with some astonished prisoners watched as the wounded Schnee Heiress fought the fire, conducting unheard music with grace and precision in spite of all her injuries.

The fire quickly retreated under the rain of water, not going out completely, but diminishing greatly. Weiss sighed as she slowed her motions. She stumbled and nearly fell, grabbing onto the railing as she swooned from injury and, likely, lack of Aura.

Yang closed the distance and caught her, picking her friend up in her arms. The Heiress turned slightly red with embarrassment.

"Yang, this is not necessary."

"You can barely stand, Princess. Anyways, I'm sure you would like to see your sister. They probably made it through by now."

"Just one thing," Weiss whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Set me down on the first floor so I can walk out on my own, please."

Yang nodded, understanding Weiss wishing to not show weakness in the clear light of day, lest people underestimate her family and their name.

"Sure thing." Yang looked back at Blake and nodded, the Faunus Huntress nodding back.

"Okay, follow them down by twos. If anyone tries anything, I _will_ kill you. Cooperate and we will see that you are treated fairly." Blake looked to Yang, seeming to almost question her own words.

"On my honor, you will come to no harm, even from your enemies so long as I have something to say about it."

Yang nodded once, a hint of appreciation in Blake's eyes.

"So, um, I couldn't help but notice," Weiss whispered as they started down the steps. "You and Blake... are you two?"

"Weiss, how long have we known each other? Couldn't you tell I was _flaming_?"

The Heiress groaned. "That's right, the foolish wordplay. Bring back the woman who spoke of honor and glory or even the raging monster."

Yang laughed faintly, Weiss joining her. It was good to see her friend again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to split a chapter in two. Hence, the final total is now 31 Chapters.


	28. Existential Threat

The three Huntresses emerged from the Schnee Dust Corporation World Headquarters with their prisoners. Weiss walked out under her own power, if with a limp, and Blake's bow was replaced upon her head. Yang and Weiss parted and allowed the surrendered White Fang fighters to pass, hand still upon their heads. Blake stopped between her teammates, the three women taking in the scene outside.

A small element of Atlesian Marines approached, a few gunships having landed in the courtyard of One Schnee Plaza. A battered, but victorious _Northern Light_ hovered in the distance along with the faintly smoking _Riptide_ and the lightly damaged _Maple Leaf_. The rescue efforts taking place atop the building were now under the protection of the mighty air command cruiser's guns and the three remaining fighter-bombers of Vapor flight that soared by high overhead.

The White Fang were taken into custody quickly, some of the marines marveling at the three Huntresses. One of the marines kicked the legs out from under a prisoner and wound up his rifle butt to strike the prone man across the face. Yang glowered, walked over quickly and seized the weapon's stock with her cybernetic hand as it was brought down. The Huntress stood over the captured enemy.

She shook her head at the taller Atlesian Marine with a stern expression, then looked at the others, sending them a silent, but clear warning. Their sergeant nodded, understanding the Huntresses would not tolerate such unnecessary violence against the prisoners even from their allies.

Yang's word was given and it would be kept, even when given to the likes of the men and women of the White Fang. After all, even if she was a creature of fire and death, she was at her core a woman of honor and principles. Her word could be trusted.

The marines started binding hands behind backs and began loading the prisoners onto one of the gunships as the sergeant came up to the Huntresses. The older man, his square jaw covered in stubble and his ebony skin weathered from exposure to the cold of the north, regarded the three young women with a faint smirk.

"Miss Schnee," he began, before looking to Yang and then Blake. "You two must be the Huntresses from Vale Captain Schnee told us about. Reports said over a hundred White Fang went into that building back there and I count only seven coming out. That's damn impressive."

The sergeant held his hand aside, evidently practicing some form of decorum with Weiss. The Heiress merely offered her hand. The sergeant smiled and shook her dainty hand heartily in his meaty grip. He exchanged the same pleasantries with Yang and then Blake, paying no heed to bloody palms.

"My name's Coal. Sergeant Jasper Coal." The weary man laughed bit. "I've worked with Hunters in the past. Even got a Hunter in the family, but this takes the cake. You three stopped over a hundred fighters!"

Weiss tilted her head. "Are you of any relation to Flynt Coal, Sergeant?"

"That's my nephew! Fought you in the Vytal Festival two on two." The man glanced at Yang, a bit of the glint leaving his grey eyes. Evidently, he remembered other details, but seemed to keep it to himself.

For her part, Yang no longer cared what the wider world thought of her. Blake believed her, as did her friend and sister. Most important of all she knew the truth.

"Flynt is a good young man," the Heiress complimented with a nod. "Bold and very skilled at the Hunter’s craft."

"That he is. Hope he's okay all things considered, but the boy's tough." He gestured his head over his shoulder. "So, I see you three got some prisoners? It's not often White Fang surrender."

"They will be treated with dignity?" Weiss asked, holding her head high in spite of her wounds.

"I don't think the animals deserve it, but yes Ma'am. Nobody wants to cross your friend with the cape over there, covered in blood and bone bits." He shook his head. "No Ma'am."

Yang glanced at Blake, the Faunus Huntress' eyes narrowing. 'Animal' was, in essence, a racial slur when used in regards to Faunus. Blake held her tongue, but Yang was not so polite.

"People," Yang stated flatly, drawing all three's attention. "They are people, Sergeant Coal. Just like you and me. Try to remember that or it could be difficult to treat them with respect and dignity. I promised them that. I don’t want anyone making me a liar."

Yang’s eyes narrowed.

“I take that personally.”

Blake smirked faintly, Weiss turning her head and nodding in agreement.

"I understand your anger, Sergeant Coal." She gestured behind herself to the faintly burning, blown out lower floors of the Schnee Dust Corporation World Headquarters. "However, I would be remiss if I did not say more than one Faunus contributed to the Kingdom's defense this day. More than one gave their lives within to protect the innocent."

The older man cleared his throat, glancing at Blake and her bow momentarily. He looked back at Yang and then nodded.

"My apologies, Miss Schnee.” The sergeant sounded weary. “I didn’t mean to offend anyone. It's been a long morning."

"That it has, Sergeant Coal.” Weiss replied with a nod. “That being said, I understand your meaning. The White Fang had a good point to make ten years ago, and the world is far from perfect, but in light of recent events... well, now they can go fucking burn in hell for all I care.”

Yang and Blake looked at each other. The Faunus shrugged, not offering much of an argument to the sentiment. Yang was more surprised to hear Weiss swear than anything.

The older man laughed a little, a bit of the glint coming back to his eyes. “Agreed. After today, the world is going to have to take these guys seriously. Guess you three have a point, though. Can’t just lump everyone in together because people like them go do something stupid. We get angry at the White Fang for doing it to us Humans.”

Weiss smiled. “Could not agree more. So, how goes the defense of the Kingdom?"

"Won't lie. We're a little strung out. The Grimm won't stop going for the Perimeter Wall. I hear even Mantel City is seeing increasing Grimm numbers near their defenses. They’ve even had sightings of Sea Grimm. Damn things can’t even scale the cliffs, but they are swimming around anyways."

Sergeant Coal glanced over this shoulder at the gunship taking on the prisoners, the pilot giving a thumbs up as the ramp closed. The Sergeant whirled his hand overhead, the gunship's engines powering up and the aircraft taking off into the sky. One of the marines walked up to the Sergeant and asked him a question.

Weiss pulled out her scroll, glancing at the large building behind her. Yang watched her enter various codes, the scroll confirming the fire exit security measures were rescinded. She noticed Yang watching over her shoulder.

“While I would rather they not see the first three floors, it would likely be quicker than awaiting air transport from the roof.”

Blake tilted her head. “Your father gave you that much access?”

The Heiress smirked faintly. “Not exactly. I may have acquired a skeleton key from the head of security under somewhat false pretenses. You know, in case I needed to handle a situation such as today.”

“Or to sneak out,” Yang stated flatly.

“That too.”

Weiss smiled as she put away her scroll, Blake and Yang laughing a little.

Sergeant Coal looked back to the Huntresses, the marine walking away, gesturing to two of his comrades.

"You three look like you could use a ride to a hospital. Atlas General and Saint Viridian’s are overflowing right now. Emergency military hospitals are still going up in Atlas Primary School's gymnasium and the Church of the Divine Word's recreation hall, but they should be ready for some patients by now. I can take you three to one of those two so you-"

A thunderous, booming explosion sounded in the distance, Yang, Blake and Weiss's heads snapping over to the distant, western horizon as the ground faintly shook and more windows on the skyscrapers cracked. Sergeant Coal's face turned sour as the man turned around, lifted a pair of binoculars from around his neck and took a look.

"That can't be..." the Sergeant began in a low tone, adjusting a dial on the binoculars.

Weiss took a step forward, other marines on the scene looking on as a massive ball of flame formed into a mushroom of smoke and fire in the western sky.

The Heiress covered her mouth. "No..."

Blake looked at Yang, her eyes suddenly filled with worry as her lips parted.

"What going on?" Yang started, shielding her eyes with her cybernetic hand. "Weiss, what was that?!"

"Schnee Power and Electrical Plant One," Weiss started, slowly shaking her head with wide eyes, apparently in a bit of shock. "It has hundreds of employees… they’re… they’re all..."

Sergeant Coal's radio crackled to life with garbled words and static, the man lowering his binoculars and taking up the handset. "What was that, _Northern Light_? Please repeat!"

Static sounded over the radio for a couple of seconds. "That was the power plant!" the communications officer on the air command cruiser started. "The White Fang just took out the main power plant! Electrical is going down across the city!"

There was another pause and static.

"Priority report from High Command! Arendelle Fortress is under heavy White Fang attack! All forces, please respond at once! I repeat, Arendell Fortress is under heavy assault! All forces respond to Mount Elsa and Schnee Geothermal at once!!"

"Everyone mount up!" Sergeant Coal barked out, his marines running for the remaining three gunships. "We have to get to Schnee Geothermal right now!!"

Weiss covered her mouth with both hands, shaking where she stood.

"They are trying to knock out the power!" She looked to Yang and Blake. “The White Fang are trying to take the Perimeter Wall’s defenses offline. The contingency plan was always to power the defenses from Plant One should the geothermal power plant go down!”

“There’s no tertiary backup?” Blake stammered.

“Plant Two, but it’s currently offline and in the midst of an overhaul.” The Heiress shook her head. “It would take days to bring Plant Two back online at even half output...”

The city-wide emergency klaxon began to sound. In spite of all that had happened, it had not yet been called upon. Yang knew a kingdom's klaxon only ever sounded in one of three grave situations.

Massive natural disaster.

Large numbers of Grimm within the defenses.

An existential threat to the kingdom itself.

While other kingdoms relied heavily on natural defenses and Hunters, Atlas relied on technology. Automated guns and other such defenses, which demanded large sums of power, made up the bulk of the defenses of the Perimeter Wall. If the Perimeter Wall's weapons went silent, the Grimm drawn in by the panic and fear in Atlas City would wipe it and likely the rest of the Kingdom of Atlas from the face of Remnant in a matter of days.

Atlas’ greatest ally against the Grimm in a world without the Perimeter Wall would be the bitter cold of winter, yet the first proper blizzards were still a week or more away. The city would never hold out that long. Not after all the damage it had suffered.

Weiss started after Sergeant Coal as his marines loaded onto their gunships. Yang grabbed her hand, the Heiress looking back at her.

"Yang, we have to go with them."

"There might not be enough time," Blake whispered, looking to a large snow capped mountain in the north. Smoke began rising from near the base of Mount Elsa.

“None of this was on the plans we got from that airship,” Yang whispered, looking at Blake.

"It's Adam. It has to be Adam." The Faunus brought her amber gaze down to Yang’s amethyst. "He probably kept the true goal a secret even from the greater White Fang. He didn’t want to just kill people and burn buildings or stop the envoys. It was all diversions and preparation for this! He’s trying to bring down an entire Kingdom!”

“He’s an absolute madman,” Weiss whispered, looking north at the mountain.

“We can get there faster than anyone,” Blake continued. “We have to stop him."

Yang nodded, agreeing fully in spite of the fear of putting Blake in harm's way once again. At least this time they would be side by side and Weiss, while worn down, could support them with her glyphs and maybe fall back to the geothermal plant if things got dicey.

"What do you mean we can... you teleported." Weiss blinked, seeming to come to the realization. "Yang, I saw you teleport! You can teleport!"

The Heiress turned and looked at Sergeant Coal, the man standing in the hatch of a gunship as the two beyond rose into the sky. Weiss lifted her hand and whirled it in a circular motion. The Sergeant nodded once and stepped within, likely aware of Yang's ability as well or simply trusting the Huntresses knew what they were doing.

The last gunship rose from One Schnee Plaza and into the smoky blue sky. It turned and headed north, the sky around and beyond the mighty mountain beginning to cloud heavily with the coming of late autumn snow.

Weiss pulled her scroll, typed in a few overrides and brought up the military communication band, the voices of the various communication operators frantic as the situation at the base of Mount Elsa deteriorated. She placed it back in her belt, the scroll still playing back the chatter.

"Sounds like its going bad up there."

"Come on, we need to reload. We won’t have time up there and we are leaving right now." Yang turned and looked north as she pulled Furiosa, flipped out the cylinder and ejected the spent casings within. She began loading in her six remaining red nosed rounds one at a time, now the occasion for her special creations.

Weiss looked to the west along with Blake as the Heiress rotated the cylinder of Myrtenaster and opened the reload port. Blake dropped a half-spent dust magazine from the handle of Gambol Shroud, reaching into her coat for a fresh one.

Illusionary glass shattered behind Weiss as their eyes widened blue, yellow and purple at the sound. Yang instinctively turned and moved to protect her friend.

Neo lunged through the air, the umbrella handle dagger in her left hand and her bladed umbrella in her right. Yang reached out for Weiss, but was too far away and teleportation too dangerous to her friend and lover.

Neopolitan sank her blades into flesh, her face twisted with sadistic fury and her pink and brown eyes alight with rage.

A shadow clone of Blake faded away, Weiss laying on the ground before the scene.

Yang's face twisted in horror.

Blake stood where Weiss once was, her Aura dissipating away as a scarlet stained blade stuck out from her right upper thigh and another out from under her left breast.

Neo's hatefully narrowed eyes locked on Yang's wide purple eyes as her feet planted into Blake's back as she landed, the Faunus still on her feet. She thrust Blake off her weapons as she pushed out her legs, the sharp steel trailing lines of blood as she tumbled away through the air.

Yang made her choice and grabbed up Blake as she cried out in terror. She tumbled into the ground, clenching her lover and shielding her from the fall to the stonework of the courtyard.

Neopolitan landed in a kneel and blinked, seeming to realize her knives found prey, but not the quarry she sought. She looked to Yang and Blake, then to a slowly rising Weiss. The petite assassin stood, turned and ran for it as Yang's cries were accompanied by her hair burning golden and her irises turning red.

" **NO!!** " Yang screamed, holding on to Blake, her heart pounding and her thoughts racing. " **NO!!** "

Weiss managed to get to her feet, her eyes following Neo as the woman ran. They narrowed, icy cold with purpose. The reload port of Myrtenaster closed and the cylinder of the rapier turned to the red chamber. The Heiress quickly weaved the weapon about in elaborate patterns.

Neo neared the edge of a building in her dashing flight from the scene.

The glyphs were cast, Weiss sneering as seconds passed that seemed like ages.

There was nothing but Yang's screams and the distant sound of aircraft engines far above.

Suddenly, illusionary glass shattered as a nearly invisible fire glyph ignited. Neo seemed to attempt to avoid the erupting glyph of flame, but her Aura failed as the woman ran through the gout of fire. Her left arm, the left side of her coat and a bit of her hair caught fire, flames trailing from Neo in her flight.

Weiss watched the woman disappear around a corner, the last glimpse of Neopolitan's face telling of pure terror, both the petite woman’s eyes wide and almost completely white as her clothing and flesh burned.

" **BURN YOU BITCH!!!** " Weiss screamed after the woman. She took a step to give chase, but immediately clenched her side and stumbled only two more.

"No! No! Blake, no!" Yang held on Blake in her arms as she got to a kneel. "No! No!"

The Faunus looked up at Yang, her amber eyes narrowing.

"No!! Stay with me!! Don't leave me!!"

Weiss dropped to her knees before them, staring at the blood flowing from beneath her teammate's left breast and more rapidly from her right thigh. Blake's long white coat began to quickly stain vermillion.

Neopolitan had gotten a major artery in Blake's leg and had punctured one of her lungs. The attack was certainly meant for Weiss, but Blake intervened.

"No..." Weiss whispered, seemingly unable to believe what had just happened to her friend. "She... she... Blake, you saved my life..."

Blake coughed, still looking into Yang's tear-filled red eyes.

"Yang," the Faunus managed weakly.

Yang imposed her will partially, getting her senses back about her. There was still time to save Blake. She just had to get her to a hospital or one of the military hospitals going up. Blake did not have to die.

"This is Arendelle Actual! They've broken through! The White Fang are-" the panicked cries of Arendelle Fortress's communication officer over Weiss' scroll were cut off by a gurgling noise, gunfire and then static.

"Okay, okay," Yang started, still a bit of panic in her tone, but her thoughts orderly as tears ran down her cheeks through drying blood. "Weiss, where is Atlas Primary School or the Church of the Divine Word? We can get her-"

"There's no time..." Blake managed, blood starting to run from the left side of her mouth.

Yang looked back at Blake. "No! No! I can get you there and still stop Adam! I can!"

"Every... second..."

Weiss began to tear up, dropping Myrtenaster as her side and sliding closer to her friends.

"This is General Ironwood!" the man's voice boomed over the scroll. "I accept full responsibility for the following order! All airborne forces, converge at once on Mount Elsa! Break through the White Fang’s air cover at any cost and get reinforcements to Schnee Geothermal! I repeat, do whatever it takes! The White Fang are storming up Mount Elsa! They will reach the power plant in two minutes at best!"

Yang's thoughts raced. Even via teleportation, there was time enough to reach one destination or the other. In her arms was the person she cared for most. A light she could not bare to see flicker from her life. On the northern horizon, hundreds of thousands of lives were at stake.

A kingdom hung in the balance.

Her everything hung in the balance.

"Yang... you have to... you're the only one..."

Emotions and logic began to clash within. Yang rocked back in forth, holding Blake, her will clamping down further, but unwilling to force her deepest, darkest fear from her mind. She lifted Blake and nuzzled her face against her lovers.

"I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't," Yang whispered, her breaking voice filled with primal terror. She could do so much, but letting go of Blake was not something Yang could bear.

“I’m taking you to help. Weiss, where-”

"You have," Blake started before she coughed up blood onto the side of Yang's face and her ear. "You have to... let me go... my precious little dragon..."

" _No,_ " Yang whimpered, tears streaking from her eyes. “ _No._ ”

The klaxon continued to sound in the distance.

Calling. Begging. Hundreds of thousands of innocent souls pleading.

"Yang... let me go..."

“ _No._ ”

“Yang… please let me go… let… me go...”

Yang lowered Blake a little as she looked to the smoke filled blue sky. She screamed at the top of her lungs, a pain unlike any other joining the indescribable boiling of venom in her blood. Her heart broke utterly, the anguish in Yang’s scream seeming to tear at Weiss’ very soul.

She held Blake out to Weiss in shaking arms, the Heiress looking into Yang's eyes. Her pupils were bright white and her sclera black once again as the Huntress’ Semblance instantly achieved its greatest expression, flames leaking from the edges of Yang’s gaze.

Weiss took Blake in her arms, Yang leaning down and kissing the woman's bloodied lips one final time.

"I love you, kitten," she whispered with a shaking voice, the fire pouring from her eyes growing faint with her voice. “I love you.”

"I love you too... little dragon..."

Yang slid back and stood tall, shutting down all emotions. She walked over to Furiosa, grabbed up the revolver and placed the last two rounds in the cylinder. She snapped the cylinder of the weapon shut as her will put down a riot of emotion and channeled a flood of unimaginable pain into her Semblance.

Her Aura was depleted, but far from spent. She holstered Furiosa, her draconic shadow casting out in the morning sun.

"Weiss." There was no hint of emotion in her tone.

The Heiress looked down at the dying woman in her arms, Blake's eyes growing more narrow as some of the luster left the amber. Her blood continued to pour, bubbles of it leaving the hole in her chest.

"I beg you, keep her company until the very end. Don’t let her leave alone.”

"On my honor," Weiss replied, not taking her eyes off Blake. "On my honor, Yang."

"Thank you."

Deep down, she wanted to look back. Yang did not look back. She took a few steps forward, leaving behind what was more precious to her than anything else. Sacrificing that which she loved most on the altar of a higher cause. She stopped and looked to the imposing mountains in the north with glowing red irises, her pupils golden pinpoints of light and her Sclera luminescent white.

Yang vanished in a burst of flames.

A Golden Dragon had heeded the pleas of a desperate kingdom.

* * *

Weiss looked down at Blake, a smile slowly forming on the Faunus’ face as tears began to flow from her narrowing eyes. "I knew... she was better than... I knew... I knew..."

"Blake," Weiss started with a shaky voice, watching the woman slowly fade. "Blake! Come on, stay with me!"

“Did you… get her?”

“I did,” Weiss affirmed as she began to sob a little, recalling Neo burning in deserving terror. “Thank you, Blake. Thank you for saving my life.”

The Faunus nodded faintly, her eyes barely open. “You’d… do the same…”

The Heiress looked to the sky, searching and hoping. Pleading within. Praying within. There was no help and no hope in sight. Even if she called out for help on her scroll, no aircraft could get Blake to help in time.

Blake needed a hospital. Blake needed a _miracle_.

Weiss lowered her head, honoring her word and keeping deathwatch as Blake clung to slowly fading life. She did not believe in miracles.

In that moment hope died in Weiss' heart.  
  
  
  
  


Lightning struck down from the blue sky.  
  



	29. Heart of Defiance

Arendelle Fortress at the base of Mount Elsa burned and smoked below. The ramparts were covered with destroyed gun emplacements and littered with dead Atlesian soldiers and dismantled AK-200s. A pair of Atlesian Paladins laid destroyed as well, one in flames and the other cut clear in half at the waist, sparking where the leg assembly once connected with the central mass.

Four dozen White Fang fighters, all heavily armed with the best equipment the organization could provide dashed up the mountain’s hewn stone pathway and along the snowy flanks of it. Every single one of these men and women were hand picked for this mission, their loyalty, fanaticism and skill making them the best suited in the White Fang for this hard fight.

Indeed, they assaulted Arendelle Fortress sixty strong and lost twelve under the withering fire and baleful war machines of Atlas.

Above them, far beneath the snowy peak and hazy grey clouds was their target. Schnee Geothermal was responsible for powering most of the Kingdom of Atlas's Perimeter Wall. Now, it was solely responsible, the two proper power plants of the city down, one from sabotage and the other for an overhaul.

It was a relatively modest building of concrete, metal pipes and ventilation fans built right into the side of the mountain. However, how it was situated offered it hardened protection from air attack and even heavy weapons utilized against its walls and doors. The White Fang would have to break in and descend to the generators to place their charges and bring the plant offline.

The wind began to blow down gently from the mountaintop, carrying flurries of snow. Far above the clouds, the last of the White Fang fighter-bombers defended the sky and would soon be called upon to hold against long odds. Atlas would send everything it could spare in the next few minutes.

The white and black clad fighters followed after their leader. Adam Taurus ran up the pathway at the head of his personal retinue and this force of personally hand-picked men and women. Snow blanketed the mountain side all around them, their black clothing and his red accents the only thing contrasting them.

One of his retinue, a svelte and tall woman clad in a long white coat with a pair of long, white rabbit ears looked up at the facility through a pair of binoculars as she moved. She lowered the viewfinders, her mask very different from the rank and file. The mask covered the bottom of her face in black, a white mouth filled with sharp teeth in a permanent smile upon it and three thin cuts in the smile forming a grill through which she could speak. Her red eyes were intense, her long white hair tied back with a simple red ribbon that flowed as she ran.

"They are preparing their defenses for a final stand," the woman stated plainly, her voice holding the strong accent of the Neshchasni colonies of Menagerie (Eastern European accent). "I counted fourteen defenders and I estimate two dozen at best. We should have no problem overwhelming them and taking the facility offline, Adam."

Adam nodded. "Excellent Petra."

A fox-tailed woman with yellow hair looked at a radio transceiver in her hand, a pack on her back sporting a few tall communication fliers.

"Adam, the attack on the flagship store of the Schnee Dust Corporation was a complete success. We have secured large sums of Dust. The assault on the police station was also a success. The airstrikes have left the AK-200 factory in flames. However, the Northern Light and two of her escorts have broken though. The fighter-bomber flights and the airships sent to intercept the diplomatic mission have been lost."

Adam glanced at the radio operator. "We knew the attack on the diplomatic mission would be risky, Vicky. What of the attack on Schnee Dust Corporation World HQ?"

"That is what concerns me, Adam. We have not gotten word from those forces." She grabbed one of the communications fliers and inspected it, her mask fox-like with red markings, but with a large green lens in front of her left eye and a built in earphone of her left ear. "The last transmission from Bravo Team twenty minutes ago said there was a delay. That some Huntress was holding them on the third floor and the Human with the strange hair was moving to engage. Since then, I have heard nothing else."

"It does not matter. Between the Grimm attacks on the Perimeter Wall and the assault on the Schnee Dust Corporation World HQ, Atlesian forces will not be able to respond in time. Once this facility is in our hands we set the charges and pull out."

The White Fang continued up the gently sloping mountainside in their dash. From the snowy hills and valleys below the loud snap of laser cannon turrets reached them. The weapons fired rhythmically along the length of the Perimeter Wall from hardened emplacements, sending red beams of energy lancing into the larger masses and single creatures of Grimm approaching the walls.

Two laser cannon fired upon a charging Elder, the great beast shuddering under the powerful energy weapons. A third cannon shifted aim and fired as the first two beams dissipated, finally bringing the massive creature down. The Elder collapsed onto the ground dying as a large pack of Beowolves ran past and over it, following their Alpha into the merciless fire of the Perimeter Wall's rotary cannon turrets, the Grimm being torn to pieces.

Four missiles from a battery on an air defense tower shot into the sky on trails of smoke and flame, detonating near a Nevermore attempting to fly over. The large flyer was knocked shrieking from the sky in a cloud of black feathers.

"Those Grimm won't quit," one of the fighters following behind Adam remarked, looking down at the raging battle.

"Once we are finished here, they will sweep into the Kingdom and wipe it from Remnant. The time of our ascension is nigh, brothers and sisters." Adam looked at Petra next to him and gave her the faintest of smiles. "First, Beacon Academy my dear. Now, all of Atlas."

Petra looked back with a gleam in her red eyes, her mask locking her lower face in a perpetual, sharp toothed and wicked grin.

"Death to Humanity!" the fighters behind him as well as the women flanking him shouted. "For the White Fang!!"

They passed a burning Atlesian gunship in the near-distance. It was a twisted wreck, brought down by one of their own portable anti-air missiles during the initial assault on Arendelle Fortress. A number of AK-200s were strewn about it, most missing limbs and all offline. The pilot was slumped dead over the controls.

As they moved on, more than halfway to the geothermal plant, Adam looked to the sky at a defense tower. It was wafting faint smoke and flame, the two heavy anti-aircraft automatic flak cannons sticking out of the turret on top lopsided. One cannon pointed upward, the other straight outward. It had been taken out by the initial aerial sweep of their fighter-bombers to ensure an easy airborne evacuation.

Truly nothing stood between them and their final objective. Everything had been factored in. The kingdom would never get more defenders to the plant in time. Adam dashed on up the pathway with his finest warriors, eyes fixed on the prize.

A flash of orange in the distant sky caught Adam's eye. The second was closer, Petra's sharp red gaze catching it as well. By the third, most of the White Fang had noticed the approaching phenomenon. A fourth blast appeared on top of the knocked-out defense tower.

A feminine silhouette looked down on them from the tower, her orange cape and glowing golden hair fluttering in the faint breeze, embers shedding from her almost burning mane by the dozens.

Adam motioned for his force to halt as he slowed, all eyes shifting to the woman standing above them. Casting down from the tower in the dim light reaching through the cloud deck was a black shadow, massive and winged. Some of the fighters looked around themselves, seemingly taking note of the shape. Soon all eyes shifted back skyward at the caped woman.

Yang Xiao Long glared down at the black and white hoard with bright red irises, the surrounding whites luminescent and her pupils pinpricks of golden light. Fire burned at the edges of her eyes. Her bronze skin glowed almost golden and steam rose from under the pieces of Inferno Celica. Blood covered her tattered and damaged clothing and cape, her heart almost shining beneath her yellow top and fully defining the black flaming heart upon the clothing.

The wounds on her body were barely visible for the glow of her skin, yet they did not weigh upon her. Outwardly, Yang seemed completely serene in spite of the blood on her right ear and cheek.

Blake's blood.

Within Yang, her hopes and dreams burned all around her like the forests of Patch did that dark night. The pristine waters of happiness she had known turned to blood and boiled with the venom of Seven Eyes. Her heart was broken. Even her imperious will was tattered and bloodied by her roiling emotions, but nothing of this world or any other could dethrone Yang's willpower now.

It did not keep her sorrow and rage from trying, however. Blake's fading eyes would not leave her mind. It only poured more pain on the fire that was her Semblance.

Adam shielded his eyes and stared long and hard at the woman standing above him and his fighters. His expression turned to a scowl as he lowered his hand.

"You."

Yang's left hand came up and pointed down the mountain side with her outstretched index finger, back to the burning fortress below. In spite of everything, she would not give in to the monster. Yang would offer them one chance to avoid her fuming, unfathomable wrath.

However, she was done asking. She was demanding. They would not get another chance.

The Leader of the White Fang continued looking up at Yang. "Petra, if you would."

"Death to Humanity!" Petra shouted, pulling a small, compacted object off her back that deployed as it came off her shoulder into a much larger anti-material rifle. The stock extended, a scope flipped up and the barrel lengthened, ending in a muzzle break.

She braced her legs apart and pointed the rifle at the Huntress, holding the weapon slightly tilted to her right and aiming down the iron sites set at a 45-degree angle off the side of the weapon. The Faunus markswoman flipped the safety off and drew the bead on Yang's forehead.

Adam snapped.

A thunderous gunshot echoed up the mountainside and down into the valley, Petra's upper body rocking back at her waist a little with the considerable recoil. The barrel of her rifle smoked and glowed faintly red, Yang's head whipped back and looking to the cloudy sky.

The Huntress brought her gaze back down from the grey clouds to Adam and his fighters. Her ears were ringing and her head swam slightly, but her will held fast. If it was possible to somehow feel more pain she did already, she did now. It would serve her well. Yang rolled her head, popped her neck, and looked right at the woman who shot her between the eyes.

The flattened .50 caliber slug fell from her forehead and bounced off her left breast, landing on top of the smoking turret with a faint ring of metal on metal.

Yang clenched her slightly bloody teeth in a furious sneer, her eyes glowing brighter. Her hair began shedding more flame and embers than before.

The White Fang markswoman lowered her rifle as her red eyes grew wide. "Adam, that round can taken out a Paladin's shoulder servo through the thickest portion of the plate at a hundred meters. It didn't even break her skin. What the fuck is she?"

The flames about the burning gunship began to grow quickly, within seconds turning from a simple fire to a towering inferno reaching ten meters off the craft. The fire began to spread, some of the White Fang staring at it in apparent disbelief.

They had answered Yang's demand with a resounding no. _Now they would pay_.

Yang screamed down at them at the top of her lungs, fire roiling from her open mouth in the cold northern air. She drew Furiosa in a flash of yellow gauntlet and stainless steel firearm, cocking the hammer. She took aim in a split second as the holographic site came up and pulled the trigger, her scream cutting off as Furiosa roared.

Adam drew his blade in a defensive form, prepared to deflect the round that was certainly bound for him.

The bullet streaked into the host behind him, flames erupting in a large fireball as the round struck a fighter, killing him instantly. Three more White Fang standing near the stricken fighter caught flame. Their Auras protected them for a few moments as they attempted to put out the fire with patting arms or falling to the ground, but the flame was almost sticky in nature and would not relent. Quickly, their clothing and hair caught fire as the fighters began to scream in agony, destined to die a horrible death.

Adam stared back at his strike team, likely realizing what Yang’s intentions were. He turned and looked skyward in time for the second booming report of Furiosa. Another fireball erupted amongst his fighters, three more of his followers being visited a fiery death.

"Charge! To the objective!!" Adam shouted, taking off running up the mountain path. He kept his eyes on Yang, the woman taking aim again.

The third gunshot thundered and another two White Fang met a fiery doom as Yang's Fireball Rounds did their hellish work. Made from a wickedly clever mixture of Dusts, the flames their explosion produced were almost like glue and would not relent. The fire would burn on anything and only a strong Aura or a complete lack of oxygen would quench it.

The fourth gunshot was met with a flash of black, Adam's red Wilt lashing out to deflect the round. It detonated on impact with his blade, the man dashing through the fire and avoiding it catching his black coat and red hair, likely thanks to his strong Aura.

The two fighters he sought to protect, however, still felt the hellish burn of the Fireball Round's flames and they too would not be long for life.

As Petra and the host moved up the mountainside as fast as they could Yang's aim snaped over, the Huntress' glowing, burning gaze hard and her facial features twisting into a sharp scowl. Yang pulled the trigger on the lead element of the attack and another ball of sticky flame erupted, Petra dodging back and grabbing Vicky at the last moment, sparing the White Fang communications officer a terrible fate.

Four more fighters, however, would die screaming, enveloped in flames.

In less than 20 seconds, Yang had killed 14 men and women. All were shot or burned to death, many still rolling upon the ground crying out in agony as the flames scoured away clothing, hair, skin and down to muscle and even bone. The bodies of the dead were charred black, still faintly burning.

The dragon's fiery breath was nearly spent, but it had accomplished its goal.

The attack halted, the cream of the White Fang reeling and spreading out, their rifles, shotguns and submachine guns leveling on Yang as she stood tall atop the destroyed defensive emplacement. She replaced Furiosa, saving a single round.

Yang vanished in a burst of flame and appeared thirty meters before the White Fang and about a hundred in front of their final objective.

Petra parted from Vicky and took her rifle up from the snow, the woman's red eyes wide as she stared up at Yang. The communications operator took a few backward steps in the snow, the pistol in her hand shaking almost violently from the evident fear.

The Human Huntress deployed Eternal Survivor from her cybernetic arm and lowered it before her. She placed the tip of the blade against the side edge of a step on the wide, hewn path. Slowly, her right arm moved as she stared down at the host. The scraping hiss of steel across stone sounded as her blade traveled across the step and off the opposite edge.

She stepped over the line and walked ten meters towards them, stopping in the middle of a step, her message loud and clear. A few more fighters backed away, more than one weapon in a shaking grasp. Adam stared up at her as he walked to the head of his force, two corpses faintly burning at his left and two more at his right.

Yang had come to make a stand. For the sake of innocent people. For what was right. It was Blake's dying wish. She would fulfill it or die trying.

That day in Atlas one stood against the many.

Yang pulled her sword back into her right arm as the heightened flame of the fallen gunship cast her shadow massive against the white slope behind her. The dragon's wings spread wide and its head seemed to look them over as Yang did so, gazing down at the White Fang. She exhaled, a bit of flame appearing before her mouth.

"She's just like Adler von Sturm!" one of the fighters shouted in a panicked tone.

"That Human in Vacuo?! The one who killed half the strike team?" a second fighter started. "Look at her shadow! Look at her eyes! She breathes fire! Adam, what do we-"

"Silence you cowards!" Adam barked. He took another step forward and pointed at Yang. "You will beg for my mercy when I am through with you for what you have done this day!"

"Adam, we have to get past her," Petra began, her tone measured and calm as she worked the bolt of her rifle, ejecting a large brass casing before chambered a new round. "We cannot allow one woman to keep us from victory."

Vicky's radio handset crackled to life as the scream of jet engines far above reached them. The woman looked to Adam as news likely came over her earphone.

"Adam, our air cover has been engaged by a partial flight of Atlesian fighter-bombers. We have them outnumbered nine to three."

"How long do we have?" Adam responded in a low, almost threatening tone.

"Fifteen minutes at best. The last of the 5th Night Fighter Squadron are maintaining air supremacy, but Atlas is responding quickly. Since the attack on Vita Vindar Air Field by Alpha Team and the Human assassin was repulsed, recon reports Atlas has managed to bring a launch bay back online. Multiple flights are scrambling as we speak."

"Schnee Dust Corporation HQ?"

"Still nothing from Bravo Team."

"Very well. This will be done quickly," Adam called out plainly. "Prepare your equipment for the final assault."

Yang was willing to face any and all, but unwilling to make the first move. She needed to hold as long as possible. Her Aura was too weakened for another headlong assault. However, if there was one person in all of Remnant she wanted to get her hands on more than Neopolitan, and only by the thinnest of margins, it was the man before her.

The Huntress raised her left hand and motioned for Adam to come.

Adam dashed up the slope like a black, white and red flash. Yang's eyed widened and the flames from them intensified as she set into her counter-oriented stance, her gauntlets and greaves yellow blurs.

A red blur came in so fast the Huntress could barely make out Wilt, but she focused more on her foe's arm and leg movement like she was taught.

The sound of steel upon steel rang out, Adam's blade striking Yang's left greave as she lifted it into a guard. The Human jumped into a twist, Adam following up with a curving slash outward and back in at the woman's legs as she held slightly higher ground. Yang spun above the attack as it passed beneath her and lashed her boot across Adam's jaw with a fiery report of buck.

Adam's head was knocked aside and he stumbled as Yang landed and took a few steps away. She set back into her defensive fighting stance, the Leader of the White Fang lowering into his iaido stance. Adam's hand hovered over the handle of Wilt.

"You will not stop us this day, Human!"

Yang sneered at him.

The Leader of the White Fang shouted and lunged, slashing outward. Yang back-flipped away and fired off the greaves of Inferno Celica, peppering him in the face and chest with flaming buckshot. His Aura protected him handily, but the Huntress put more distance between them.

Yang landed on her feet and left hand, her right hand pointing down at the slowly advancing crowd of warriors and wagging a finger 'no no no' at them. She parted her lips and screamed, the flames of the crashed aircraft growing more intense as fire flashed from her mouth. Everything in her wanted to attack.

All the fury and hate she had for this man made Yang want to do nothing more than charge him. All the pain and suffering in her compelled her to lash out. To attempt to kill Adam as quickly as possible.

Her past experience taught her better and her willpower enforced that wisdom. She learned this style of unarmed combat for a reason. Yang would let him come to her. All she had to do was hold the line.

She felt something through her will and on her skin. The tingling of the presence of the fire hungered for something. She gave it further intensity and the flames heated a Dust fuel tank well beyond specified limitations. The burning gunship detonated, sending pieces of metal flying in all directions.

Two of the fighters near the rear of the pack were struck, one dead in an instant as a rotary blade impaled him and the other falling to the snow, screaming and grasping a stump where his left hand once was. Flames covered the snow near the craft and small fires burned where larger parts of the gunship came down.

"This can't be happening again!" one of the White Fang shouted as two more ran to the aid of the their stricken, now one-handed comrade.

Petra raised her rifle, taking aim on Yang. "Adam, allow us to help you!"

Yang was mostly positive he would not. She knew Adam remembered the mockery of his fighters Adler made. She also knew if he was even half as prideful as she suspected, he would not want any help in killing her.

"Stand your ground and prepare to assault the facility!" Adam ordered, taking a step forward and confirming Yang's suspicions. Another step followed, then another. Suddenly, he was rushing at Yang once more.

"You will die on this mountainside! Death to Humanity!"

Yang's furious screaming and dire flashing of flame before her mouth met his proclamation, the woman so beside herself and so emotionally locked down words could never do her feelings justice.

Yang watched the sky turn red and the snow turn black, white-lined black silhouettes watching on from below. She had a half a split second at best, but that was far more time than she had before. The Huntress had seen it done. She would attempt to pull it off.

Her gauntlets came up in one unified guard and her knees bent as she lowered herself. A black Wilt crashed upon her white Inferno Celica and she thrust her arms upward with all her might as she fell to her knees. Sparks flew from her gauntlets as the normal colors of the world returned in an instant.

The Huntress rolled backward and spun up off her back to her feet, immediately resuming her guard. The paint on the bottom of her gauntlets was gone, sheared completely off, but her arms were sound. There was paint to be felt in her back, weariness tugged at her arms and her legs protested, but Yang focused her eyes on the wilting rose on Adam's back. Her will shut out all signs of fatigue with nothing more than a feeling, only the pain being allowed in.

Adam's head turned slowly, one of his mask's eye-slits meeting her burning gaze. His lips and teeth parted, but not a word escaped him.

Yang had deflected his Semblance. She managed to turn aside the blow that once laid her low.

The Huntress could see the rage taking over as the shock washed from Adam. Out of the corner of her eye she watched some of the White Fang take a step or two back. Their leader and greatest champion's best attack had failed. Their confidence was certainly shaken.

Adam shouted at the top of his lungs and ran at Yang head-long, his blade lashing out at her repeatedly like a red flash of light. Her arms flexed and moved, one of her legs rising as well, each strike and stroke of her foe being met by her protected forearms and shins. He pushed in, maintaining his distance advantage thanks to his sword, but Yang stepped back in measured movements.

Yang put the style her father had taught her over the past months and everything she learned under Adler into practice. She could barely make out his sword, but she could make out his arm movements and his footwork. With that the Huntress could predict his attacks. One at a time, she blocked them.

They slowly began to circle wide around the pathway. More than once, Adam could have broken off the duel and dashed up Mount Elsa. More than once, he did not. Yang had him hook, line and sinker. He was truly out to kill her now and every blocked or evaded blow seemed to only fuel his stubborn, pride-driven rage.

She wondered if he wanted to hurt her or if this had something to do with Blake? The mere thought of her fallen lover sent more embers from Yang's hair, her emotions rising up and being quashed once more.

The wind grew stronger still, more flurries coming down. It had begun to snow faintly, but proper. The White Fang fighters stole glances at each other in silent astonishment as they watched their leader and the Huntress have it out before them. They could run past as well.

Perhaps she had instilled enough fear into them they dared not go near her.

Or, more likely, without Adam perhaps their mission would not be so simple? Assaulting uphill into a fortified position was tactically unsound. The White Fang had a numbers advantage, but without Adam, perhaps they lacked a spearhead to break through the enemy's strong point?

If Yang could just keep him occupied, eventually time would turn against them.

The roar of jet engines filled the sky above the clouds, loud and erratic. High above, a battle was being fought for control of the skies. An Atlesian fighter-bomber of Vapor flight plunged out of the cloud deck and was chased by a White Fang fighter-bomber, the formers light rotary cannon sending shells and tracers after the later, but failing to score a hit.

The delta-shaped aircraft swooped down into the valley and streaked off over the Perimeter Wall and into the white, snowy wilderness of the north.

Yang knew it had all come down to her. The cavalry was coming, but it would be too late if she fell too early. Even in the deepest core of her being Yang knew she was too spent and too inexperienced to match Adam long. His blows were coming faster and faster, her Aura and body being taxed more and more to keep up her defense.

An entire Kingdom, unknowingly, was counting on a pun-cracking, blonde-mopped girl from Patch to keep a black and white tide of evil and death at bay. This was what Yang trained for. This was what it meant to be a Huntress. To never give up, to keep fighting and to survive as long as possible against all odds until the job was done.

No, this was not that. This went far beyond it. This was nothing a Huntress could ever be expected to do. This was _greater_.

Yang detected a blow she could not block. A vertical slash no guard or dodge would keep at bay was incoming. She lashed out her cybernetic arm and deployed Eternal Survivor, half the length of Adam's blade but just as razor sharp. Wilt broke through her weakened Aura and kissed her skin just above her left knee. Burning pain filled her body as it sliced open her skin up to the top of her thigh.

Her left gauntlet slammed down into the sword, keeping it from reaching any higher than the seam of her black under shorts and her sword plunged out on a punch. Adam seemed to detect the attack and rolled aside, but not before the black and gold blade cut through his shirt, through his Aura and grazed across the top of his left pectoral and split the left side of his coat.

Adam jumped aside and back, replacing his blade on landing. His gaze snapped up to Yang, the sixteen centimeter cut he put into her left thigh bleeding moderately into her tan pants. Crimson ran down her left leg and stained her greave and boot faintly. The Leader of the White Fang looked at the sword sticking from her right arm and seemed to take note of the red on the first centimeter or so of the blade.

His head tilted and Adam stared at the cut in his coat and the split in his shirt, a shallow laceration beneath in his fair flesh bleeding. A small dark stain began to cover his shirt as the wind fluttered his red hair and black coat, bits of white snow sticking to it. His mask turned back to Yang and his lips curled back, his teeth almost grating.

Yang could tell he was furious.

The Huntress took three steps towards him and the collective White Fang host behind Adam, each footfall of her left boot sending pain like lightning up through her pelvis into her belly, but her face betrayed not one bit of that discomfort.

She glowered at them and held her bloodied sword for Adam's strike force to look upon. The Human showed the White Fang the blood of their leader running faintly down the golden writing on her black blade, heedless of the bleeding of her thigh.

He had slashed her. Yang had merely cut him. Yet the breaking of confidence could only have been more pronounced it her foes did not wear masks. Her meaning was clear as day.

Adam was **not** invincible.

Yang screamed again at the top of her lungs, the newfound pain in her leg joining the roiling mass of past and present pain, failures and shortcomings fueling her power. Though her Aura was fading, there was still more than enough left to maintain the greatest expression of her Semblance for a while longer. The nearby burning wreckage inflamed and fire shot along the snow itself to her left leg, climbed it and burning her with her permission.

The fire scoured away the left leg of her tan pants as it cauterized the wound. Even with all her willpower, Yang did not want to lose too much blood too soon. Her control over fire continued to impress even her, thought that emotion too was kept at bay.

The wound closed before her enemy's very eyes, her shadow challenged all before her on the white slope. Many amongst the White Fang took a step back. Some a few more than one.

"Adam, we're running out of time!" Vicky pleaded. "The fighter-bomber squadron has been engaged by another flight! Atlesian forces are approaching the mountain and more than one gunship has already attempted reinforcement of the facility. At absolute best we have twelve minutes!"

"Silence!"

"Adam, please, let us assault the facility," Petra added. "We can-"

"I said silence!!" Adam pointed at Yang as the White Fang behind him grew both quiet and quite obviously more concerned. "You die this day, you filthy Human! I will kill you!"

Yang gestured him to come at her with her cybernetic hand as her cape flowed in the building wind. Her glowing red eyes narrowed on Adam's mask as flames still leaked from their edges. She still had him bull-sighted on her.

Adam lowered into his stance once again, his hand upon Wilt, and dashed up the mountain at Yang. She knew his Semblance was coming again. Yang went for Furiosa with her right hand and brought up her left before her, the woman's left hand open.

The sky phased to red and the mountain to black, Adam closing on her like a speeding bullet. Yang held down the trigger of her revolver and continued to raise it, leveling it on her foe. She pushed her right hand up and her left palm down, cocking the hammer. As her palm slid free of the hammer spur it snapped forward thanks to the depressed trigger.

Furiosa boomed as Wilt flashed forth. The white Fireball Round streaked over the black blade of Wilt, leaving embers and smoke in its wake.

She caught him completely off guard with her revolver. The Fireball Round slammed into Adam's chest, detonated into a gout of fire harmless to Yang and blew him back away. The blade of Wilt adjusted at the last moment and cut through Aura into Yang's upper chest just above her right breast, leaving a shallow laceration.

Adam went flying in a trail of flame, streaking down into his retinue and assembled fighters like a black, flaming comet. His flight knocked two fighters over, both catching fire. Their Leader slammed into the hewn stone pathway and tumbled down it a few meters before rolling to a halt. Wilt clattered onto the step above him and slid to a stop, a bit of flame on the blade.

Three fighters rushed to his aid, Adam's powerful Aura staying the worst of the flames.

The two afflicted White Fang fighters began to scream as their clothing and hair caught fire. Their comrades stood back, knowing all too well even touching the burning men would mean death for them. One fighter leveled his rifle on a burning comrade and shot him in the head. His aim walked over to the second, the doomed man ceasing his flailing and merely nodding vigorously.

Another report ended his life mercifully.

Blood slowly flowed from the shallow cut in Yang's bronze skin, down to her tank top, staining the yellow vermillion. She blew the smoke from the barrel of Furiosa and replaced her revolver on her hip, glaring down at her enemies. Showing not the slightest bit of pain or trepidation.

The nonchalant gesture put more fear in the hearts of her enemy. She wanted them to think she was the most dangerous thing on that mountain. Should it be true or not mattered little. Perception was reality.

Petra raised her rifle and fired at Yang, another loud report echoing off the mountainside. A ricochet sounded at the same moment, the Human's left gauntlet coming to her defense. The impact force imparted on her arm hurt, but the gauntlet and her Aura held.

The Faunus markswoman worked the bolt and fired again, a few others opening fire as well. Yang deflected the high-powered round with her right forearm, feeling no pain from her cybernetic aside a faint vibration through the interface port grafted to her flesh. The scattering Dust rounds from rifles and shotguns as well as Vicky's pistol pattered off her Aura and body.

Yang watched over her gauntlet as she weathered the storm of bullets. Adam slowly pushed himself from the ground, his clothing wafting smoke. His coat was tattered and his shirt torn open. She could see the reddened skin of a few small first-degree burns on his chest and one on his chin.

The bullets, though, started to sting.

Yang could tell her Aura was fading. A third high-powered round streaked in, ricocheting off her right greave and aggravating the cauterized wound on her left thigh as she put all her weight on that leg. Yang decided to respond, needing to keep them out of the fight so she could focus on Adam. He would be up and upon her very quickly.

The Huntress screamed, her hair and eyes flaring up as she began to shadow box and kick in the direction of the host. She pumped out shell after shell of fiery buck, sending it scattering through the ranks of the White Fang. Some dove for cover and others were hit, being knocked down.

A few boldly stood their ground, their courage not failing them as they returned fire in kind. They received the brunt of Yang's fury, more than one falling to her shell fire and catching flame as Auras failed.

Yang knocked aside a fourth anti-material round from Petra and sent a few blasts of buckshot at her exclusively. The Faunus markswoman weaved through the fire with impressive reaction time and speed, but some of the buck found her. Though her Aura protected her well, the impact force and splash of flame stunned Petra and knocked her into another fighter.

The Huntress screamed down at them. She raised her left hand and pointed directly at Adam, the man now back on his feet. The White Fang's fire ceased, Yang's meaning loud and clear. She wanted to continue the duel.

One of the White Fang offered Adam his sword. The man took it in a swipe and pushed the other attempting to hold his arm aside. Adam's eyes may have been hidden by his mask, but his lower face was livid.

"Stand aside!" Adam barked as he started back up the pathway. The White Fang lowered their weapons once more and parted dutifully, obeying his command.

Petra reached out her left hand to Adam as he passed her, her rifle held at her side in her right. "Adam, give the word and we will charge her with you as one. I will gladly give my life for the cause. We can't allow her to stay our victory."

Adam stood silent and stoic for a moment, seeming to entertain her words. He shook his head once and continue on up the steps. "She's mine."

Yang still had him thinking with his pride. She took a deep breathe, knowing things were going to quickly get ugly. Her right gauntlet was out of shells as well as both her greaves. She had two shells remaining in her left.

All resources were running out. Everything but the pain, anyways.

Vicky held her pistol at her side finger off the trigger while she held the earphone tight with her other hand. Her mouth hung open slightly. She glanced up at Yang and then to her leader.

"The Human with the strange hair and eyes you sent with Bravo Team to assault the Schnee Dust Corporation HQ has reached the rally point." The fox-tailed Faunus swallowed hard, Adam's gaze snapping to her, evidently not happy she was interrupting. "Adam, she was the only one aside two others to make it back. The building remains in Atlesian hands. They failed to get past the third floor."

The Leader of the White Fang seemed to glare hard at his radio officer through his mask, her own shielding the likely fear in her eyes. Vicky's shivering legs and shrinking demeanor betrayed her nonetheless.

"The Human is badly burned. She did not speak, but wrote three words when asked when happened. Heiress. Traitor. Dragon." The radio operator swallowed hard. "She underlined 'Dragon' three times and crossed out 'Traitor'. Aside the three at the rally point and some who surrendered, Bravo Team was lost to the man."

"Blake is dead," Adam whispered, his tone impassive.

Once more the emotions rose in protest. Yet again, Yang’s willpower put them down with characteristic totality.

"All those fighters," Petra whispered, looking to Yang with large, fear-stricken eyes. "She killed all those men and women..."

Adam slowly looked back up at Yang, her glowing red eyes locking onto the eye-slits on his mask. "So the Human killed Blake? A pity, she will not feel the sorrow of the loss of all she cares about."

Yang raised her guard once more and screamed at him in furious rage, a bit of fire flashing before her mouth as her shadow's wings spread.

"First a thunderbird and now a dragon." Adam sneered. "He may have eluded death, but you will not. Even if she is dead, I still have a promise to keep."

The Human Huntress screeched at him once more, challenging him to come.

Yang knew she was on the very last of her Aura and felt the edges of her power slipping. Her will still held on with an iron grip, keeping her Semblance at its greatest level, but it would not last. She needed to hold out just a while longer. The sounds of the battle above her were still too loud.

Still too contested.

The Atlesian forces still could not break through.

"You have nothing left, do you?" Adam observed as he took a few more steps up the mountainside, the flurries coming down heavier now. He glanced at the flaming wreckage of the gunship, the fire beginning to die down slightly.

"The storm only grew stronger, but the fire dies all around us. I will have my revenge, now. We will be victorious this day."

Yang deployed Eternal Survivor from her cybernetic arm and kept in closer than her left hand's guard, prepared to fight on to the bitter end. Her heart pounded and the swirling storm of emotion and pain continued on, but at the center of it all, Yang remained calm and in control, if heartbroken.

She was holding them. Adam was helping her to do so with his stubborn pride. All she had to do was stay a thorn in his side for as long as possible.

The Leader of the White Fang slid Wilt into Blush and stalked up towards her. The Huntress could sense in his body language this next attack was going to be brutal. She had hurt him with that Fireball Round, but Yang knew he still had some Aura left. She braced herself, just needing to hold on.

Adam ran up at her yelling. For the third time, everything went red and black. Yang screamed furiously, charging down at him. There was no way to stop the hit now. She thrust her right arm forward in a punch and held her left off behind her back, wound up and ready.

They clashed, Yang's blade meeting Adam's and sliding over it.

In one movement he parried her sword and struck her cybernetic hand. Wilt drove up the length of the arm within the right gauntlet of Inferno Celica and out through the elbow trailing sparks and bits of glowing White Dust. Yang felt the feedback of the limb shorting out and being utterly shredded hit her nervous system through the interface port.

Yang shrieked at the top of her lungs, fire pouring from her mouth in a puff and her eyes blazing like infernos as her left fist whirled in, the left gauntlet of Inferno Celica gleaming white. It fell like a hammer into Adam's right side, the report of a shotgun blast sounding. Her fist drove into his ribs as Wilt wrenched about within her right arm and was forced away from her flesh harmlessly, trapped within the right gauntlet of Inferno Celica.

His mask met her screaming face at a glance.

The sound of a loud crack reached their ears. Yang and Adam spun in a circle where they clashed and traded trajectories. The Huntress was hurled up the mountainside just past her line in the stone trailing her cape and landing in a heap. Adam was thrown back down, Wilt still in hand, and landed a few meters in front of his fighters, rolling to a quick halt on his side.

The White Fang watched in stunned silence. The only sounds were the roar of jet engines above, the distant crack of the Perimeter Wall's defense lasers in the valley and the faint howl of the wind.

After ten seconds that seemed like an eternity, Adam rose.

The White Fang watched as he got to his feet, a pained groan leaving him as stopped at a kneel. Wilt was still clasped in his right hand, but his left hand cradled his right side. He managed to stand gingerly and replaced his blade within Blush, seemingly forcing his body upright.

Vicky reached out to him, but he waved her off with his left hand. Adam gestured to Yang, still laying in the snow face down.

"Victory," Adam started, taking a breathe in the midst of his words and coughing. He reached for his right side again. "She fought hard, but none will stop us brothers and sisters. Today, the White Fang will know it's greatest-"

The Leader of the White Fang's words trailed off as the Huntress pushed herself up, her hair now blonde and her eyes purple. Yang's body wanted to stay down so very badly, but she was tired of listening to her enemy proclaiming victory.

Not so long as she still lived.

Yang fought on through her wounds and weariness, the greatest expression of her Semblance spent. Her Aura was only but an ember as she rose to a stand, shrouded in her orange cape.

Yang did not so much as wince and her violet eyes hardened. Her cybernetic arm hung limp at her side, sparking and dropping the occasional bit of glowing, White Dust. Eternal Survivor stuck out of the snow, separated from the limb. The right gauntlet of Inferno Celica had been wrenched into the shredded metal of the cybernetic She stumbled forward two steps, but managed to plant her feet under her, standing tall.

She reached across her body and began pulling small latches on the interface port open. After the fifth, the mangled cybernetic limb dropping to the snow. It was dead weight now. No need to keep it on.

Yang glared down at them with bare, bloody teeth. She could see the expressions of disbelief on many of the fighter's lower faces. Petra's eyes were wide, her red irises small circles around large black pupils. Vicky trembled where she stood, taking another few steps backward.

The Huntress gestured down the valley and to the still online defenses of the Perimeter Wall. Victory? They had achieved nothing of the sort. The laser cannon and light rotary cannon turrets still kept the Grimm at bay. Atlas was still secure. Everyone watching Yang likely knew exactly what she was illustrating to them.

Adam shook his head, his legs firm beneath him, but his upper body favoring slightly to the right. Yang felt it under her left fist. She knew that loud crack. The Huntress had heard it twice before from her own body.

Yang cracked one of his ribs with her sacrificial counter blow. All it cost her was a one of a kind device in its prototype stages that was built specifically for her. Small price to pay, Yang figured.

"How are you still standing?" Adam managed through grit teeth. He took Wilt's handle in hand and lowered into his stance. He winced, but was evidently prepared to fight.

For her part, Yang had no Aura left at all aside one precious spark. She would have to make it count.

Some of the fighters behind Adam raised their melee weapons and started moving forward. Adam glanced back down at the host, halting the White Fang moving up the mountainside with a glare.

"I will finish this!"

Vicky touched Adam's right shoulder. "Adam, a Mechanized element of the Atlesian Army approaches in the valley. The fighter-bomber lead is reporting gunships rallying near the mountain range. They are likely awaiting the next wave of Atlesian fighter-bombers and will approach under their cover."

"Adam," Petra started, reloading her rifle with a fresh magazine and working the bolt, chambering a round. "We have to go up the mountain now. Her Aura is gone. Let me finish her."

Yang glared down at Adam over her nose. She would not survive a shot from Petra. The Huntress decided to try to bait Adam into making one more sortie up against her. She pulled Blake's bow from her belt pouch and nonchalantly tied off her blonde mane with the length of black ribbon.

The rush of memories and shared nights was one of the most painful things Yang ever experienced as she bound back her hair.

"I will finish this," Adam hissed as he watched Yang manipulate the keepsake with one hand, very obviously recognizing it and, perhaps, understanding its meaning. He did see her face that night at Beacon. If the man suspected, now he knew.

Adam threw aside good sense for intense pride once again as he prepared to attack. Yang knew the wonderful rush of doing so all too well. That and the cold sting of failure when it did not work out.

The Leader of the White Fang ran back up at Yang. He was no flash or blur now. She had hurt him. His Aura was likely very weak.

Yang lowered into her defensive stance and raised her left arm, balling her hand into a fist. Again, she would meet Adam's charge. Again, Yang would endure pain and injury on behalf of the helpless and innocent. Her will drove off the weakness and fatigue, but not the pain.

It could still serve a purpose.

Adam reached her and attacked, Yang's feet carrying her backward and her body ducking under the blow. Her many wounds lit aflame with pain, but Yang's will forced her lungs to hold onto their wind and her body to not succumb to shock. She weaved and moved, her feet carrying her up the mountain path and away as each red slash came for her.

She pushed out her left forearm in a block as an attack she could not elude came in. Steel upon steel sang out as Wilt clashed with Inferno Celica.

Another blow came in and Yang raised her right calf, the sword striking her greave and moving over it harmlessly. She maintained perfect concentrating in spite of how painful her wounds were. Each attack Adam launched now had the possibility of being fatal. Only her ability focus via her unbreakable will and enchanced by her meditative abilities kept her aware and alert.

The Human Huntress had no Aura to spare for her defense. She would have to trust in the steel of Inferno Celica and her own skill. She continued to weave and duck, using her footwork and movement at her waist to protect her along with actively blocking with her single gauntlet and greaves. Just like her father taught her to that winter many months ago, Yang managed to keep up a total defense.

Yang was fighting Adam Taurus with one arm.

The red blade got through, a slice opening on her upper left arm. Blood began to slowly flow from the new wound, but Yang did not let it deter her. She kept just out of the range of his sword and shielded herself with her armored forearm for the two follow up attacks as Adam pressed in.

They circled around before reaching the line in the stone step. Adam growled and grunted with each attack he made, his rib likely pleading with him as much as Yang's wounds did with her. His speed was diminished, but his skill was still sharp.

He took Wilt's handle in both hands and whirled it about. The attacks came faster, the blade flashing about like a red streak of light. Yang raised her guard and kept her eyes on his arms and legs. Her forearm moved before her and steel clashed again and again. She blocked with her gauntlet and occasionally with her greaves, still focusing purely on defense.

Her furious rage made her want to lunge in. Her body wanted to collapse. Yang's will weathered the storm of strikes and waited like she was taught by Taiyang. She was biding her time, waiting for the mistake. Her father would eventually make one after many minutes and he was a highly experienced Hunter and Signal Instructor.

Adam was extremely skilled and experienced as well, but he was also wounded.

His blade glided sparking off Inferno Celica's remaining gauntlet as Adam spun into a low slash. Yang pushed her upper body forward and her legs back at the hips, reacting, but knowing it was too late.

Wilt opened her skin on the outside of her left thigh and Yang's blood spilled upon the snow, but her footing did not fail her. It was another step on the road to a death by a thousand cuts, but Adam was open for a split second. It had to be his rib. It slowed the closure of his guard.

Yang acted.

She used her forward motion and launched a punch into Adam's chest. Her blow found home against his sternum as Inferno Celica barked out its last shell. She planted her feet as the man stumbled back and grabbed his ribs, flaming buck singing his tattered clothing. Yang stepped backward, brought up her left arm and readied to defend.

The Huntress gave him all he needed. Now she needed put her plan into action. Deep down, a small part of Yang hoped it would work. The rest of her merely accepted the eventuality it might not. Yang was prepared for the outcome, no matter what it would be.

Adam sheathed Wilt within Blush and yelled at Yang, staring up at her as he lowered into his iaido stance. "Now your life it mine!"

She opened her fist and gestured for Adam to attack, knowing his Semblance was coming.

The Leader of the White Fang flashed up at her in a black blur, the sky for the fourth time turning crimson and the mountain ebony.

This was it. Now or never.

She screamed at the top of her lungs as abandonment, failure, the pain of her injuries, the acidic venom of Seven Eyes in her blood and, above all, the loss of Blake hit her all at once. The final spark of her Aura was consumed as Yang's eyes shifted to glowing crimson and her hair burned gold, her hand lashing out as she lunged forward.

Wilt flashed black and Inferno Celica white, not a single noise sounding as the sky and mountain returned to their original hues.

Adam stood before Yang, Wilt in his right hand and Blush at his side in his left, the eye slits of his mask focused on her. The Huntress stared back with slowly fading red eyes, the golden burning slowly leaving her hair.

In Yang's hand was Wilt.

Not a single drop of blood fell from her closed palm.

Yang lifted a leg and slammed her boot into Adam's stomach as she wrenched his weapon away in one severe motion of her left arm. Likely aided by his pained ribs and the winding she visited upon him, his right hand could not maintain its hold.

She disarmed him of his blade and tossed it away as part of the motion to move it aside. Adam attempted to raise Blush and Yang's left hand moved back in balled in a fist, smashing into his rising left arm as her Semblance faded fully. The weapon went off with a bark harmlessly into the snow.

Yang grabbed Adam's left wrist and kicked him again, forcing him to drop Blush. She released his left arm, grabbed him by the collar as she rushed into his body and tackled him to the ground on the stone steps.

The very one below the step she cut her line into.

The White Fang watched on in stunned disbelief as Yang landed atop Adam, their leader's Aura along with the Huntress' completely gone. She pulled away his mask, the man gasping as his lungs pulled for air. His wide eyes looked up into Yang's narrowed purple.

Yang screamed at him, lifted her fist and brought it down across his face, whipping it aside and sending a bit of blood flying from his mouth and nose. Behind them, a draconic shadow's mouth was open in a roar, the beast upon something small and helpless.

"Adam!" Petra screamed as she raised her rifle. " **Adam!!** "

A explosion rumbled in the sky above, drawing the markswoman's attention. A mass of flaming, smoking metal broke through the cloud cover and streaked down into the mountainside well away from the crowd, detonating in a fireball. What remained of the fallen aircraft when the snow and smoke cleared as the flames took dominion was the tail fin, riddled with bullet holes.

On it was the symbol of the White Fang, wreathed in flames.

The cavalry had arrived.

"Our transports are incoming!" Vicky shouted, pointing her pistol into the sky. "Half a damn mechanized division of the Atlesian Army is moving through Arendelle Fortress and up the mountain!! The fighter-bombers have lost air-supremacy against increasing numbers and the Atlesian gunships are trying to-"

An Atlesian gunship came down through the clouds and into the flurries, four figures jumping from the back and landing on the roof of the geothermal power plant. A light rotary cannon sounded, a smoking White Fang fighter-bomber strafing the gunship and zooming by with a roar. The gunship went spiraling out of control, one of the engines smoking and on fire as it spun down towards the valley below.

It was too late, however. The cargo of reinforcements was delivered. It looked to be a Hunter Team.

"Petra, if we don't get out of here now we're going to be cut off!" Vicky continued, shaking the handset in her grip.

She found the Markswoman's eyes wide and staring back up the mountainside to Adam, Yang continuing to bludgeon him with her fist. The Human was still screaming at the top of her lungs with anguish and rage.

"Petra," the communications office entreated once more, "you are in command now! The Bullheads are coming in hot! The squadron leader said he's giving us two minutes. They are coming in about a hundred meters down the mountainside where it’s flatter! We have to go or we will be left behind."

"No!" Petra screamed, raising her rifle once more. She fired, a booming report sounding.

Yang flattened atop Adam at the anti-material round shattered a step into fragments of flying stone a few meters away. She never once sacrificed her situational awareness. The Huntress laid atop Adam, looking him in the eyes nose to nose, growling and snarling as she threw a pair of rabbit punches into the his side, going for his bad rib.

The man beneath her swooned as she attempted to end his life before a bullet found her skull.

A second gunship, this one a bit larger than the normal variety and riddled with holes but still airworthy, slid to a slow skid above Schnee Geothermal. A Paladin battle mech dropped from the grasping claw of the large transport, landing with a resounding thud on the concrete roof.

The aircraft pulled off down towards them, firing off a burst of its dual light rotary cannons, ripping up the snow along Petra's right and sending the woman to ground, her rifle leaving her grasp in her apparent desperation to avoid being stuck.

The light shells whizzed into the host of White Fang. The fighters were sent scattering as the rounds came down amongst their spread out ranks. One of the unlucky fighters caught too much shrapnel from the impacting shells through his Aura and fell screaming, one of his legs blown off at the knee.

The Paladin held its ground atop the facility, weaponry at the ready and red sensor beams tracing about it, searching for a foe. The final objective was likely beyond the White Fang now.

Petra went for her rifle, only to find it in three pieces, the barrage of light shells destroying the weapon. She screamed and slammed her fists into the snow, her red eyes wide with rage and anger.

The White Fang Bullheads came screaming down out of the clouds, one of their fighter-bombers zooming past, trailing a bit of smoke. The situation on and around Mount Elsa was rapidly deteriorating. Below, the shapes of more Paladins along with the figures of AK-200s and Atlesian soldiers came up the mountainside quickly.

"Petra!" Vicky screamed, drawing the woman's red glare. "We have to go now!!"

Yang sat back up and resumed screaming as she battered Adam's face, breaking his nose and covering his face with blood. Each blow from her hand robbed him of a little more of his life. She was killing him. Beating him to death with one hand.

Another gunship flew down from the clouds, strafing the White Fang and killing two more in sprays of blood upon the snow as their Aura's faltered. It veered off, some of the fighters returning fire from their rifles and submachine guns, riddling one of the tail fins with holes.

"Fall back!" Petra screamed down at the fighters, motioning to their transports. "Fall back!!"

The markswoman got to her feet and began to run, Vicky taking off down the mountainside along with the rest of the cream of the White Fang. Petra stopped after a few steps, looking back over her shoulder at the shadow of a dragon standing tall with something small and humanoid in its grasp.

Yang glared down at her, Adam's lifeless body clasped by the neck in her left hand as she slowly raised it in warning. Yang tossed the man's corpse aside and stood tall, still willing to fight on, if completely bereft of resource and Aura. The sun broke through the clouds momentarily, fighter-bombers tracing white trails far above as they turned and fought

Beyond Yang was the key to bringing down the kingdom. In essence, behind Yang was the entire Kingdom of Atlas, burning and battered with smoke rising into the sky, but its white banners still flying from its skyscrapers.

Before her, the black and white clad fighters of the White Fang fled.

In the break in the clouds above was a golden sun.

A single Huntress could never save a Kingdom. A Dragon could challenge the gods.

Casting a dragon's shadow stood Yang. She was battered, bloodied, depleted, tall, proud and defiant in defense of the Kingdom of Atlas. She had taken her rightful place in the world as a Golden Dragon, one of the true protectors of Remnant. A noble peer of the old gods.

"Adam," Petra whispered, a shiver running up her spine. She turned and ran, joining her comrades in retreat. The host fled down the mountain slope as fast as their legs could carry them. They reached the landing zone and began loading into the Bullheads. Within eighty seconds, no White Fang boots remained on Mount Elsa.

The Bullheads lifted off one at a time, one of their covering fighter-bombers streaking by just under the cloud line. On the last Bullhead to leave the field stood Petra in the open hatch, her head lowering in failure.

Yang glanced at Adam's lifeless body lying in the snow, his mouth hanging open and blood still seeping from his nose, mouth and eye sockets. She lifted her left hand and formed it into a fist, looking upon the blood staining it. Two of her fingers ached. They were broken.

She dropped to her knees, the clouds closing in and sunlight vanishing as more snow began to fall. She retracted Inferno Celica, raised her opening left hand to her face and buried her eyes in her palm. Yang cried out in anguish as tears began to stream from her eyes, the cold wind blowing down the mountain billowing her cape around her.

Her willpower relented and raw emotions overwhelmed Yang utterly as she sobbed into her hand. She lifted her head, the whites of her eyes red as her face grew wet and twisted with sorrow, her draconic shadow raising its head and opening its mouth along with her.

" **BLAKE!!** "

Yang broke down completely, slumping down and catching herself from falling with her hand. She sobbed uncontrollably, crying in the cold as the snow began to settle on her cape.

The Huntress still had her sister, as far as she knew, along with more family. She still had Weiss. However, that who was most important to her was dead. Yang screamed in agony, not wanting to go on without her lover and best friend.

She cried alone for nearly a minute, utterly heartbroken.

Lightning flashed down and thunder boomed impossibly fast on its tail.

Yang lifted her gaze, Adler standing in the snow at her right. He planted Dreadnought into the snow, the sword standing within its scabbard. The man reached down and lifted Blush from the snow, keeping his green eyes on Yang as he started walking around.

"Good morning, Yang."

The woman looked away. She swallowed hard, not wanting any company in her despair, even if it was her grandfather. "Leave me alone."

Adler walked up the snowy mountainside a ways and reached down again, picking up Wilt from the snow. He examined the weapon, nodded once and returned it to its scabbard. The man clad in blue jeans and a matching jacket walked up to Yang, glancing a little down the pathway.

"What do you want?" Yang managed to choke out between sobs, Adler remaining silent.

"Well, as the battle is over and decidedly won, to congratulate you, of course. There is no need to make good on my vow of a proper burial. While you are indeed very injured, it is nothing you cannot endure and recover from with time."

His words stung her heart and soul. Yang looked up at the snowy grey sky and cried out in anguish again. "They killed Blake! I know you said… but how? How do I go on?!"

Adler walked past her and leaned again, taking Eternal Survivor in hand and lifting it. He reached back down, placed a boot on Yang’s destroyed right arm and wrenched the right gauntlet of Inferno Celica free from the mangle of metal and sparks that was the cybernetic. He fiddled with the gauntlet and shrank it to bracelet form.

The man pulled a roll of bandaging from his pocket and began wrapping it around Adam and Yang's weapons. Her grandfather walked up to her and knelt on the step below Yang, looking up at her.

"Yang, in all my days, I have never seen such incredible courage, determination and selflessness. I came this day to witness a turning point in a war few know is being waged. It has indeed turned, but not how She envisioned it." Adler motioned his head to Adam's body. "Not how he did either, I would wager."

Adler picked up Adam's mask and pushed it between two layers of the bandaging, securing it with the bundle of weapons. He took the bundle in his hands and presented it outward to Yang in a formal fashion long since gone from Remnant.

"Until your father hears news of this day, I am the proudest man on Remnant. Take these Yang. They are your possession now. Your weapons and your justly earned trophies. None other has the right to these items lest you present one as a gift." 

Yang reached out with her injured hand and grabbed the bundle. She reeled it in and held it to her chest, appreciating her grandfather’s sentiments, though the depths of her sorrow were limitless. Still, it was good to see him again.

"Thank you."

"Do not. This glory, all of it, belongs to you. This is your day, Yang. It is an honor to even be in your presence."

"But... Blake... she's..."

"Your sacrifice, Yang, has changed the very nature of your soul. You are a very different kind of dragon than before. You are no longer such a major contradiction of monster and woman. You are very much like me, now. A very small contradiction. Perhaps, not one at all."

His granddaughter looked him in the eyes, a few voices in the distance. Atlesian forces were coming.

"I cannot linger. However, you have certainly earned this."

Adler smiled faintly as he pulled something from his pocket and held it up. She looked at the blue ribbon in his hands, a golden medal dangling from it. Adler placed it over her head and seated it around her neck.

She recognized the medal. Engraved into the gold was a flaming heart that did not look much unlike her own. Adler wore an identical medal in the painting of Team PRSA in his bedchamber. Long ago, it was the greatest honor for courage the Kingdom of Vacuo could bestow

Adler grabbed up Dreadnought, took two steps back and went to a knee.

“Yang Xiao Long, for all to see and for all time, around your neck, as upon breast and within, you bear the very Heart of Defiance.” Alder bowed his head. “Honor and Glory upon you for all time and beyond.”

Her eyes followed Adler up as he stood, Yang moved by the gesture. She mustered the faintest of smiles for the old man in spite of everything tearing her apart within. “I know you don’t want me to, but thanks.”

“I will always repeat that you need not.”

The older man smiled down at her with warm green eyes, the snow beginning to stick to his hair, beard and jacket. She noticed his t-shirt was black, the face of a snarling Boarbatusk upon it in white. Over the Grimm’s head in white text was ‘Motörhead’ and beneath ‘Mantel’. Yang had no idea who the band was, but her and Adler had different tastes in music.

"A final _suggestion_ from your grandfather before I depart, Yang. Demand to be taken to Mantel General Hospital."

Yang blinked, figuring the old man was mixing and matching names again. ‘Back in his day’, this was the Kingdom of Mantel after all. She sighed, her heart heavy.

"You mean Atlas General, you old bastard..."

"No, I do not," Adler replied with a faint smirk. "When you arrive, ask for your comrade in arms, the very loyal and most noble Weiss Schnee."

Lightning struck where he stood, Adler gone in a flash of brilliant light. A round of thunder followed instantly.

"What was that?!" a voice called out. "There, it was over there!"

A group of Atlesian soldiers approached out of the falling snow, a few AK-200s following them and the shape of a Paladin far behind. Yang stood before them, medal around her neck and bundle of trophies and weapons in her arm. They approached her quickly, a few noting Adam's body and starring.

More still stared in shock and awe at the Huntress. Did they know what she had done? Did the mass of bodies give some clue? Yang put it from her mind, Blake’s smiling facing lingering in her thoughts.

She imposed her will, regaining more composure.

A female medic with short brown hair came up to Yang with concern in her brown eyes, setting down her medical pack. Yang shook her head stoically at the woman, drawing a few questioning gazes.

"Take me to Mantel General Hospital."

"Ma'am, there are plenty of hospitals closer than-"

The Huntress glared at the medic.

They called for a gunship to do exactly as Yang asked.


	30. The Bravest Person She Had Ever Known

Yang sat in a chair by the edge of Blake’s bed in the middle of the night as the snow came down. The faint noises of medical equipment as well as a breathing assistance device were the only sounds.

The flight from Mount Elsa north of Atlas City to Mantel City took nearly an hour. During the entire trip the medic had worked on patching up Yang’s various wounds. Once she reached the hospital, the emergency techs that greeted her on the rooftop were surprised to find Yang walking under her own power. It was not nearly as surprising as what they told her when she asked for Weiss.

They told Yang they heard someone slamming on the double doors of the eleventh floor aid station and when they opened them, the technicians found her teammates on the rooftop landing pad. Blake was in Weiss’ arms, the Heiress kneeling on a black scorch mark. They had no idea who was knocking on the doors, but one technician insisted it sounded like, if they took any longer to get to them than the handful of seconds it did, that someone was going to kick them in.

Blake arrived hanging on by a thread. The technicians and nurses got her to emergency surgery as quickly as possible. The Faunus was in luck. Mantel General’s best surgical team was not otherwise occupied, Mantel City mostly untouched by the day’s events even in spite of elevated Grimm numbers in the area.

Yang insisted on going to Blake when she arrived, but her lover was still in surgery. The nursing staff also insisted the Huntress get out of her bloody, filthy clothing and clean up before going near any patients. Yang’s emotions were a mess, but she imposed her willpower and, after nearly two hours of cleaning and treatment of her wounds, the nurses took her to Blake’s recovery room.

The Huntress proceeded to cry on Blake’s shoulder, gently as to not hurt her, for half an hour. She refused to leave Blake’s side when visiting hours passed and when pushed, explained her and Blake’s relationship. The older head nurse ‘made an exception’ and allowed Yang to stay.

Sleeping in the second bed in the recovery room was Weiss. Yang was keeping vigil over two people dear to her. Apparently, the Heiress refused to let Blake leave her sight when the hospital staff tried to separate them. Yang had heard more than one nurse refer to Weiss by very unflattering names as she listened in on the sharing of stories amongst the staff.

The Heiress had insisted she stay within sight of Blake. She went so far as to tell the nurses to cut off her dress so they could treat her abdomen wound. She managed to get into the surgical preparatory room somehow and when told to leave, Weiss apparently brought her name and all the power behind it to bear.

Yang had no idea what threats Weiss made in the surgical prep room, but they were effective. The Heiress was allowed to watch the entire procedure through the viewing glass of the prep room while a nurse tended to her injuries.

Phone calls were likely made in the following hours by, Yang suspected, Mr. Schnee to get his daughter moved into the same recovery room as Blake, though when Weiss arrived she was unconscious, likely still sedated from surgery. Her abdominal wound was not life threatening, but Yang suspected the Heiress, or more likely her father, did not want her scars to replicate too quickly and one or perhaps both elected for a more cosmetically concerned procedure before any other patients arrived from Atlas City.

What mattered most to Yang was that Blake was still alive and would recover with time. Within a month, she could return to her profession of Huntress as good as new. The sharp, young Doctor even promised Yang there would be no unsightly scars, considering the woman’s chest wound. It seemed the young surgeon determined the nature of their relationship before Yang invoked it when visiting hours passed.

What tugged at Yang as she sat in the dim light of the recovery room was the fear of more days like this. More injuries befalling her beloved and more dances with death on surgical tables. If Adler had not intervened, Blake would have died.

She did not wonder why. His words to her on Mount Elsa echoed in the back of her head. That he had never seen such courage, determination and selflessness.

She thought her grandfather was referring to her own actions. Her ultimate willingness to let Blake slip away to save a kingdom. As Yang stayed by Blake’s side throughout the day, she realized the man was, perhaps, not referring to his granddaughter, but to Blake.

If not for Blake’s insistence, Yang would not have abandoned her. For all Yang did on Mount Elsa in the face of incredible odds and the single most dangerous person she had ever fought, it was the Faunus who pleaded the kingdom’s case while her own was fatally dire.

It was very likely Blake’s great act of courage that brought the Storm Eagle of Vacuo screaming down from a clear blue sky that morning. Yang was sure of it now. She smiled a little, touching her lover’s forehead. She was a far cry from the woman who ran from danger just a year earlier.

To Yang's mind, Blake was the bravest person she had ever known.

In spite of everything on her mind, Yang was far more calm within. Her beloved Blake was before her eyes, resting and breathing. She looked to a large cabinet in the corner of the room, the door open. Within hung Myrtenaster and Gambol Shroud as well as a holstered Furiosa. Her ‘trophies’, Inferno Celica and the blade of Eternal Survivor rested on a table by the cabinet. The medal Adler presented her hung with her revolver.

Weapons were strictly forbidden in the hospital, but again, strings were pulled and exceptions made. Someone called the hospital to check on Weiss and then vouched for Blake and Yang’s character. She wondered if that patron was also Mr. Schnee or if it was Winter checking on her sister.

Weariness tugged at the edges of Yang’s willpower, but she pushed it aside with ease. If she grew too tired, there was always meditation. Part of her wanted to review her fight with Adam. Victory did not mean a flawless performance. In spite of all she had accomplished, Yang had accepted during her training she could always do something to improve.

There was a faint knock at the frame of the entryway, no doors in the recovery room. A somewhat familiar face peered around the curtain.

“Miss Xiao Long?” the young, smart surgeon began, a faint smile on the woman’s face. Her short, purple-tipped blonde hair rested just above her shoulders. Dark bags were under her bright green, bespectacled eyes.

“Hey Doc,” Yang replied as she leaned back from Blake’s bed, a bit of exhaustion in her tone.

“I’m just coming to check up on Blake.” The woman stepped into the room with a large scroll, tapping a few things on the screen. “You should get some sleep, Miss Xiao Long.”

“Right back at you, Doc.”

The young woman, no more than twenty five, laughed a little. Her white coat was clean, but her green sweater and tan pants were a little disheveled. The Doctor inspected the equipment next to Blake’s bed.

“It’s been a very long day. First Miss Belladonna, then Miss Schnee. An hour later, we got some overflow from Atlas City. Most of the worst cases stayed in the capital, but those who could wait and travel were brought here. Better an hour getting here and seeing Doctors than two or three at one of the hospitals in the capital.”

“A lot of people got hurt today,” Yang replied with a nod.

“As I understand it Miss Xiao Long, it could have been much worse.”

“You can call me Yang, Doc.”

“Everything is looking very good, Yang. To think, just five years earlier, it would have been a fifty-fifty chance for Miss Belladonna. These new Dust mixtures and application processes are almost miraculous. The ability to regenerate organ, muscle, nervous and even skin tissue with a beam of Dust-infused light has changed so much.”

The Doctor smiled wistfully, entering more information into her scroll. She checked Blake’s intravenous line and nodded.

“I’ve even heard Schnee Medical and Pharmaceutical is looking at making the equipment portable for field hospitals, airship medical bays and one day, small enough to fit in a Doctor's bag or a medic’s pack.”

Yang knew the state of medicine in Atlas, like the state of all technological advancement in the northern kingdom, put the rest of Remnant to shame. Procedures, equipment and medicines that were rare in Vale and Mistral and unheard of in Vacuo were at every hospital in Atlas in abundance. If there was a kingdom to suffer the injuries Blake had, it was Atlas.

“You know Yang, if you like, I can pencil you in for the morning. While your wounds will heal naturally as they are now, I can speed the process along and keep them from becoming scars. Once things stabilize across the kingdom, I’d be happy to get you an appointment for a cosmetic treatment to remove existing scars. I have been informed money's no object. It would seem Miss Schnee’s father has spoken to hospital management.”

The Huntress looked at the Doctor, smiling a bit. Yang gestured to the bandage around her upper left arm.

“You see this bandage, Doc?”

The woman nodded.

“Under it is a cut I got from a very dangerous and evil man. When it becomes a scar, it’ll be there to remind everyone who ever tries what he did today what will happen when I show up.”

The Doctor blinked, her eyes slightly wide behind her wire-frame glasses. “Well, the offer remains on the table I suppose.”

“It’s appreciated, but I’m good.”

The Doctor nodded and headed back for the curtains. “Try to get some sleep, hmm?”

The woman left the recovery room, Yang getting to her feet and walking to the window. Her left leg protested to weight, but she moved without so much as a limp. Yang looked out at the falling snow, the shattered moon hidden by clouds.

“How’s Blake doing,” Weiss started wearily.

Yang turned and smiled at her friend. “She’s still out, but she’s going to be okay. I heard you never let her out of your sight until I got here.”

“Huntress’ Honor.” Weiss smiled faintly and raised her right hand, holding up only her index and middle finger pressed together. Her arm came back down slowly, the woman sitting up a little in bed.

“Yang, you will hardly believe what happened after you left.”

“Let me guess. Lightning came down from the sky and a guy with a slightly white brown beard in blue jeans and a matching jacket brought you here in a white flash.”

Weiss blinked, a bit of surprise in her expression as she seemed to wake up more. “Well… am I to assume you have seen this phenomenon before?”

“He’s my grandfather. He’s the man who taught me how to do what you saw back at your family’s building. I trained with him for months out in the desert. He’s a piece of work, huh?”

“Your grandfather?” Weiss replied. “He looked so young… relatively speaking.”

“That’s a long story.” Yang looked back out the window. “You’ve met my Uncle Qrow, sort of. The guy who fought your sister at The Vytal Festival.”

“How could I forget. The man made quite the spectacle of himself.”

“You and the old man would probably get along great. The man who brought you here is named Adler. He is Qrow and my mother’s father. Didn’t know he even existed about half a year ago.”

“Well, I suppose that explains his willingness to help. I’m certain he aided the Kingdom as much as we did.”

Yang shook her head, turning and sitting down on the edge of the table bearing her equipment. “I don’t think he lifted a finger to help Atlas. I just think he was here, watching. He mentioned something to me after my fight with Adam. Someone, actually. He’s referred to _Her_ before, but I still don’t know who he’s talking about.”

Weiss raised her hand again, pointing at Yang. “Speaking of Adam, I had yet to ask, but I assume you turned him back?”

She picked up Adam’s mask and held it up for Weiss to see. “This was his. I sent him and about half his goons to hell.”

Yang set the mask aside, Weiss’ eyes widening a bit. She knew something was on her friend’s mind.

“What?”

“Ever since Beacon I had worried about you very much. Seeing what you did today first hand and now knowing you managed to keep the White Fang from bringing down the defenses on the Perimeter Wall, I can hardly believe you are the same woman I attended Academy with. You have come very far, Yang. I must say, I am quite impressed, if a little disturbed as to how you handled the situation at the headquarters of my family’s business.”

“So,” Yang started, smirking a little as her left arm moved across her abdomen and against it before slowly lifting her breasts, “before you went under to make sure you didn’t get a new scar did you ask the Doc about bolting on some tits?”

Just another friendly reminder Yang was still, indeed, Yang.

Weiss’ eyes narrowed as they focused on Yang’s now lifted bosoms. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and turned her head, looking towards Blake as her gaze opened.

“That would be highly unladylike. It would also lengthen my recovery time and would have been more of a drain on the hospital’s time and resources than I would have found acceptable.”

Yang laughed a little as a faint smirk grew on Weiss’ lips, they Heiress looking at her out of the corner of widening eyes. At least her less well endowed friend grew a bit of a sense of humor in their time apart.

“Anyways, Winter did not ‘blossom’ until after she left the military academy. Likely due to a change in diet or simply aging. She also grew a few centimeters taller as well.”

“Hmm… you ever notice how much taller girls who are just a year or two older than us are?”

“I most certainly have. Needless to say, I am looking forward to my early twenties. Hopefully, a proper pair of breasts and four centimeters of height beyond what my heels currently endow me with will be a 20th or 21st birthday present from my grandmother’s excellent genes.”

Yang started laughing harder, grabbing the bandage over where Neo had cut her from the pain, allowing it through her will along with the good feelings. “I might have to wait a little longer to see if I will get anything extra, but oh well. I just… need to enjoy the now.”

Blake’s left hand rose slowly and gave Yang a faint thumbs up. She stood and went to her lover’s side immediately, Weiss sliding over on her bed, wincing a bit at the healing wound on her side.

“Kitten?” Yang started, leaning over Blake and looking down at her.

A pair of barely parted, faint amber eyes started back, a mask held on Blake’s lower face assisting her to breathe in spite of her injured left lung. The tears came back to Yang’s eyes quickly as the Faunus nodded at her, communicating as best she could.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Weiss started with a bit of relief as she grabbed the dividing curtain as starting pulling it forward. “I will give you both some privacy. I shall try not to listen too closely.”

“My brave little kitten,” Yang whispered as she leaned down next to one of Blake’s ‘human’ ears, not caring who saw her affection and feelings for her lover. “I got there in time. I stopped them.”

Blake’s left hand weakly reached up and touched the side of Yang’s quickly wetting face.

“You’re going to be okay. It’ll take a while, but you’ll be fine.” Yang sobbed a little. “I’m still a little scared of being alone, kitten… but… I get it now. I think I can handle it a little better now. I just want to enjoy as much time as I can with you.”

The Faunus nodded.

Yang leaned back a little, Blake’s eyes still narrowed in her weakness, but there was a warmth in them. As comforting as it had be for her to see Yang and hear her voice, the Faunus was still comforting Yang in the face of her still present, deepest fears with her mere presence.

Though Yang's words rung true within her mind and heart. One day, this would not end this way. By sword or time, they would be parted. It would be a terrible, horrible day, but it was one Yang was a little better prepared for.

Still, there was no rush to see it.

“I’m not leaving the room Blake. I just want to show you something.” Yang stood, Blake’s arm settling back down to the bed. She went and grabbed an item in particular off the table.

Yang came back alongside Blake and lifted Wilt, sheathed within Blush, into view, The Faunus looked at it the weapons, her weary eyes widening slightly.

“He’ll never hurt you or anyone else ever again.”

Blake’s eyes closed. Yang held her breath, hoping she had not upset her lover. It had been a day of untold violence and misery. Perhaps deep down the Faunus thought her old companion could be saved? Maybe it was one death too many for Blake to bear?

Her lover’s eyes slowly reopened, her hand coming back up. Blake cradled Yang’s chin weakly and looked into her eyes. Difficult it must have been, the woman smiled faintly around the breathing device in her mouth.

A finger came up to rest on the edge of Yang’s left eye. Blake’s hand slid from Yang’s face, reached out meekly and poked her in the heart once. Her hand drew back and tapped Yang in the chest again, a little off center.

Yang set Adam’s weapons against the bed and leaned in, touching Blake’s face as the Faunus shed a couple of tears. Her left hand weakly rested on Yang’s hand and gave it the softest, most comforting of squeezes as the Human began to cry in earnest once more.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is, in essence, the Last Chapter of _Heart of Defiance_. Chapter 31 is an Epilogue. Look for it sometime this week.
> 
> For those of you who have come on this ride with me, thanks for all you kind words, criticism and support. Cheers to you!


	31. [Epilogue] Pieces in the Great Game

Adler von Sturm leaned against a stonework wall in an alleyway with sheathed Dreadnought in his left hand, flurries of snow on the shoulders of his blue jean jacket and in his white-streaked hair, mustache and beard. Vanquisher’s wooden handle protruded out from his jacket a bit, holding it open and revealing a bit more of his black Motörhead shirt. The bite of the night’s cold air had no effect on the man as he waited patiently, his green eyes scanning out to the entrance of the alley and then back down into a T-intersection that was a part of a network of back alleys.

In the cloudy, snowy skies far above a pair of Atlesian gunships passed, likely on patrol against any further activity on the part of the White Fang. Though the kingdom was pronounced fully secure hours earlier, the military was still out in force as a show of strength, likely to help restore some confidence in the people. Such a strong presence necessitated Adler get off the rooftops, stay away from the streets and stick to the shadows.

It had been a long morning of unthinkable violence that would go down in world history. Adler did not know the exact numbers, but he was certain a few thousand had ultimately died in the White Fang’s attack on Atlas. The police station, Schnee Dust Corporation's flagship store, the power plant, Arendelle Fortress and a military factory he was aware manufactured AK-200s were not so lucky as Schnee Dust Corporation World Headquarters, the _Northern Light_ and her escorts and, ultimately, the entire kingdom.

There was also Vita Vindar Airfield, which seemed to be knocked out for a while in the morning and was the point of origin of the traitorous 5th Night Fighter Squadron.

Adler understood why the targets the White Fang failed to destroy were failures and why the successes were successes. His granddaughter and Blake were upon the _Northern Light_ , they responded to the assault on Schnee Dust Corporation World Headquarters whilst Weiss Schnee held out and Yang ultimately put a stop to the White Fang’s final objective on the snowy slopes of Mount Elsa. She also ended the life of Adam Taurus, the man he knew to be the architect of the morning’s attacks.

The other places were not so fortunate to have Hunters nor Huntresses present, hence their destruction. What he did not know was what happened at Vita Vindar, though Adler had suspicions. What the man wished to know was facts and details He bore witness to much from the rooftops of Atlas’ skyscrapers, but what occurred at Vita Vindar that ultimately spared it happened beneath the ground where his eyes, aided by powerful viewfinders, could not peer.

The faint sound of shoes approaching from the darkness of the alleyway met Adler’s ears. He did not glance over, mostly recognizing the pattern of soft footfalls. It was slightly different from when last he heard her approach. His right hand came to his beard and scratched at it a bit, a faint smile growing within his facial hair.

“Good Evening, Agent Seven.”

“Good Evening, Knight Commander,” a female voice replied from the shadows, seemingly nothing more than a faint, feminine outline in the dark as she moved towards the stonework wall opposite of the one Adler relaxed against and leaned upon it. She also knew to keep to the shadows and out of sight, now able to better cover from whence she came.

“You did not sound the same when you approached,” Adler started, looking out towards the lit street, a couple of Atlesian soldiers walking past on patrol with two AK-200s. “Your hips did not sway as they do now when you walk and your balance is a little different due to weight above the waist.”

“Yes, it would seem the past months have seen some expansion of my more ‘feminine’ traits.” Her voice held a bit of disdain.

“I told you it would happen eventually. You do not sound like you enjoy it all that much.”

“My body draws undue attention now. The extra weight has forced me to re-learn some of my fighting style. My balance was imperfect for a few months while I adjusted to the additional weight upon the front of my chest and around my hips and behind. I have grown taller as well.”

“It cannot be all bad, Agent Seven.”

“My new _assets_ have allowed me to more easily gain the confidence of those attracted to me which seems to be an ever growing list of both men and women. I am not certain how to feel about these attentions. I wish to remain unnoticed, yet being so very noticed is flattering and sometimes useful.”

Adler laughed, a few memories of days long gone coming to mind. “The exact same thing happened when she turned 21. Rook loved the attention.”

“I have used my physical beauty and training to distract and confuse those around me when convenient. I suppose I have overcome most of the drawbacks, though the extra attention has made some aspects of my work more difficult, yes. It is harder to lean against a wall and stay out of sight with such a pronounced bustline and I have had to explain away the discrepancy of my changing appearance with the age I have presented myself as.”

“How did you do that?”

“I have added more fatty foods to my diet, at least while eating in plain sight. They are delicious, though I must and do exercise more to keep them from impacting my weight any further. I also suspect they may have aided in the speed at which my body has changed. That said, hamburgers, fried chicken and vanilla milkshakes are rather delicious. The acquisition of new clothing that better fits, however, was rather bothersome.”

Adler smirked. “Sounds like you have it all planned out Agent Seven.”

“I have made due, Knight Commander.”

“Well, they have not figured out what you are yet. As far as we know, your cover is fully intact. There was that one incident, but you handled it well and it seems to have blown over. The information you have provided in the dead drops for the past year has been very useful.”

“I live to serve my homeland.”

“As do I.” Adler looked up at the dark sky, the snow beginning to intensify and the rumble of thunder in the distance. “We knew something of a grand scale was going to come to pass, but even our agent in the White Fang did not know their ultimate goal was going to be bringing down the whole Kingdom.”

“Is Agent Twenty-Three well?”

“Last I saw of Twenty-Three, just this morning, still alive and well. I am sure in the coming days the White Fang may look within, but Twenty-Three is far too clever. If it proves too dangerous, I have given Twenty-Three permission in our last communication to slip away from the White Fang and request extraction from Menagerie. At this point, Twenty-Three has done much. I will not risk that agent’s life any further.”

“They came very close to bringing a great disaster down upon the world.”

“That they did. I know She had a hand in this. Her fingerprints are all over more than one aspect of the attacks. When was the last time so many Grimm were in the wild lands of Solitas and this late in the autumn? This was Adam’s idea, but it served Her purpose fully. His attacks put enough fear into the people of Atlas the Grimm came rushing to the Perimeter Wall. With so many assets tied up holding the Kingdom’s defenses, little could be spared to fight within.”

“Which in turn led to the population’s fear turning into a feedback loop. Eventually the Grimm would have been worked into a frenzy. Indeed, they were from what reports I’ve heard. Even Elders were reported to have charged the Perimeter Wall.”

“I saw them do so.”

Adler’s eyes shifted about in the shadowy light from the street lamps at the mouth of the alley. It was a habit to make sure nobody was listening in. Indeed, they were alone.

“While Adam moved the pieces this day, it was on Her behalf. If he knew that, we may never know. As I told my granddaughter, the war has taken a turn this day. Yang was in the right place at the right time.”

“I doubt it was pure coincidence, Knight Commander.”

“Well, the younger Heiress Schnee did send the letter and necessary paperwork to Patch. It simply would not have made it in time in the hands of a normal smuggler. Thankfully, the finest smugglers in the world hail from Vacuo and most are very loyal to hearth and home.”

“The very best are also a part of the organization.”

“Indeed. Thankfully, while the Xiao Long’s rise early, they did not rise as early as when I arrived to deliver the package. It was a gamble, but I knew two Huntresses such as they would never stand idly by and allow a ship to be overwhelmed or a kingdom to burn.”

“I heard Blake Belladonna was nearly killed.”

“Nearly, yes.”

“Knight Commander, I know not for certain, but I am aware she arrived, along with Weiss Schnee, at Mantel General Hospital in an impossible timetable. Rather, impossible if you had not intervened.”

“Do you question my intervention, Agent Seven?”

“It is not my place to. However, might I inquire as to why you did so?”

Adler smiled and looked at the shadowy woman down the alley, her figure slightly lighter than the gloom about her. “I will not lie that my heart sank when Blake intervened on behalf of Weiss when that little assassin struck and visited such terrible injuries upon her. However, it was not my place to intervene.”

“And yet you did so.”

“Though I could not hear words aside Yang’s screams, I could read the meaning of their body language. Blake was willing to make the necessary sacrifices to keep injustice and evil from prevailing. Yang, ultimately, heeded her wisdom and did so as well.” Adler looked back to the opposite wall, straight ahead. “Blake Belladonna did one of the single most heroic things I have ever witnessed. As a man who lives and dies by honor, and having a thunderbird’s soul I could not allow such courage to go unrewarded. I would not have been worthy of my shadow.”

“Was that the sum total of your reasoning, Knight Commander?”

He could sense her prodding at him. Prying into his reasoning. Likely, being such a skilled spy, she suspected he was not being fully truthful.

“Very perceptive. Yang could not save her lover as I could not save mine. However, Yang has always had something I never had on my journey to now.” Adler glanced at the woman shrouded in shadows. “Me.”

“Taking such actions out in the open may draw Her attention upon you.”

“I am quite certain Her attention is already upon me. When you live as long as I have, you cannot avoid some of the deep, dark truths of the world. She has looked upon me and I have looked upon Her works. She understands my priority is Vacuo first and last.”

“She will realize someone is making moves against Her, Knight Commander. While you are adamant this is not your war, you are rather involved now. We all are.”

“My goal has and always will be the defense of Vacuo. Once, that necessitated carrying sword and banner under the gleaming sun into battle. Now, this is how I protect my people. She is a far greater threat than terrorists and nation-states.”

“Agreed. Our involvement in today’s events was necessary to keep as many pieces on the board as possible.”

“Precisely. I have no love for Atlas nor the so-called ‘Keepers of the World’. However, if other Kingdoms fall, Vacuo will be very hard to defend. It is best to keep Her focus on Atlas, Vale and Mistral for now.”

“Do you think She will suspect your hand upon pieces in the Great Game? Her previous opponent is still absent from the table.”

“I do not believe so. Not for a while longer, at least. I did not intervene at Beacon, as you well know. I did not intervene on behalf of Atlas this day and is it so hard to believe a grandfather could be moved to action by the anguished cries of his granddaughter? That a man who has lived through such a tragedy would not wish to see it visited upon those so young and full of life?”

“I do think She shall suspect, but She might well look upon your actions this day as you have presented them rather than as someone in open opposition to Her. After all, you are still a Human at the core of your being.” She seemed to pause. “For what it is worth, I approve of your actions in regards to Blake. Not that you require my approval to do what you wish, Sir.”

“No, but I suppose it is appreciated.”

“As I appreciate your understanding of how close I am to my mission.”

“I do. Originally, you were just supposed to passively report upon the internal processes of Atlas Academy and occasionally on certain individuals attending. However, once such a great opportunity presented itself you took the initiative and it paid dividends. Your continued efforts through the Vytal Festival until now have proven your value to the Kingdom of Vacuo time and again. Indeed, your great grandmother would be most proud.”

Adler von Sturm reached into his jacket with his right hand and pulled out a black velvet bag tied shut with golden twine. “Before it slips my mind, I have something for you.”

He tossed over the bag, the woman snatching out of the air with a black gloved hand. She opened the bag and looked within, the faint glimmer of gold shining out.

“Is this what I think it is?”

“Fortune’s Finery. Things are growing dire across the world, Agent Seven. I felt you could use the extra protection.”

“They survived this long out in the desert?”

“All twenty-four pieces. In our time weapons were made to last, even such as those. I placed all their weapons within sealed containers once I returned to the Valley of the Kings and buried them behind their monument. As you fight as Rook did, I felt Fortune’s Finery would augment your combat abilities greatly.”

The woman sighed, a bit more thunder in the distance. “They shall, but some of these pieces are rather, well, they look rather uncomfortable. I see you have included a note on what items are to be worn where.”

“Indeed. I was intimately familiar with the wearer and recognize each piece.”

“I will have to get certain piercings to properly wield this.”

“That is your choice to make.”

“I suppose.” She closed the black velvet bag and placed it under her cap. “So is this why you have called me here? To give me some Dust-infused jewelry from the days before the Great War and congratulate me? While appreciated, it is far from necessary and perhaps a bit of an undue risk considering the day’s events.”

“No, I have asked you here on such short notice to give me a report on what happened at Vita Vindar this morning. From what I know and saw, the White Fang attack and the unforeseen treason of the 5th Night Fighter Squadron went off without fail.”

“Indeed, their betrayal took me by surprise as well.”

“The large numbers of traitors took many by surprise this day. I fear, while She may have been denied a great victory, a further wedge has been driven between Faunus and Human. I have already heard hateful rhetoric on the wind.”

“As have I. While She did not get all She desired, She did not come away empty handed. Violence may not be far off.”

“Unfortunately that is the nature of hate. I warned Adam of this and now it seems close to coming to pass. Things will have to be done, but violence from Human to Faunus may be inevitable in the coming weeks and months.”

The shadowy woman nodded.

“That aside, something or someone kept the White Fang from knocking out Vita Vindar Airfield completely. Was it who I think?”

“Yes.”

“How did she perform against such a determined, dangerous group? They had an assassin with them as well as some elite members of the White Fang, no doubt.”

“Knight Commander, her performance was remarkable. Not to self aggrandize, but I saw her potential for waging war early.”

“You did.”

“However, her performance today was far beyond anything I could have ever imagined possible. Many stipulations and limitations were bypassed by the Doctor, though. He did things he should not have. Gave her abilities and features that were expressly forbidden in the project charter. There were elements within the military that wished to see her stay gone and, as you well know, I had to keep one from doing so on his own initiative.”

“Are you sure she will be an asset, Agent Seven?”

“I believe she may indeed be the next peice needed to ultimately turn the tide of the Great Game into the favor of the people of Remnant and, as such, Vacuo. That is, if she survives the inquiry to come in her current form.”

“See to it that she does. Do whatever it takes. You have the full backing of Muad'dib.”

“Then I will do what must be done.” The woman in the shadows nodded. “So you do believe as I do she will be vital in our efforts against Her?”

“I trust your judgement. Indeed, while you have a far cooler and more level temperament than Rukmini ever had, you possess her great intellect as well as her sharp eye for talent and detail. It was only a matter of time until your body resembled her own.” Adler von Sturm smirked. “I must ask, will you grow out your hair?”

“Do you desire to relive old conquests with a woman’s great granddaughter, old man?”

“While you are far, far more interesting to my taste than the vast majority of women your age due to your wit, bearing, knowledge of the true history of the world and sharp intellect, let us keep this professional Agent Seven. I was merely musing about the past as you well know I am given over to at times.”

“So maybe,” she chided.

Adler laughed a little. “You do resemble her very much, especially now I am certain. However, I show such an interest in you because of who you are, not who your ancestor was. You stand on your own well out of Rook’s shadow, my dear.”

“Charming as always, Knight Commander.”

He smiled faintly, looking over at the woman. “This old thunderbird still has plenty of swagger in his strut. _Cock of the Walk_ , as we used to say long ago.”

She seemed to shake her head, but a faint bit of laughter reached him. “Perhaps I shall grow out my hair, but only because it suits me to do so. I doubt there are many men left in this day and age that really know how to treat a lady as you likely do. That said, for now Knight Commander, let’s keep it completely professional.”

Adler lifted his left hand, holding Dreadnought and pointed his index finger at her. “Something you are far better at than Rook ever was, by the way.”

“Indeed. So, the events of Vita Vindar.”

“Yes.”

“As I am sure you will understand Knight Commander, nothing in this world happens in a vacuum and without context. Your granddaughter’s actions this day, for example, would be impossible to explain in a short and concise fashion without leaving many questions. That said, I can give you the short version of my report.”

Adler leaned up from the wall and walked over to the woman. He reached out his right hand and touched her shoulder, a pair of blue eyes looking up at him. Lightning streaked down between the buildings from the snowy sky, likely paid little mind too as the snow was beginning to intensify and there was already distant thunder of a coming storm.

Lightning lanced down onto a large round, black stone before a large manor house in the highlands of Vacuo, the sun setting in the distance.

Adler looked down at Agent Seven and smiled at the completely unsurprised woman. “I think I would prefer the long version.”

In the fading light he could tell she was indeed a few centimeters taller than he remembered her looking during her matches at the Vytal Festival. The young woman’s white, gold buttoned shirt was filled out with ample bosoms now and her blue skirt was cut a little longer, yet seemingly just as short due to her widened hips.

She nodded once as Adler stepped back.

“Very well, Sir.” Ciel Soleil lifted her gloved arm, showing him her watch and the rapidly winding back time as the holographic clock projecting from it adjusted to the new, earlier time zone of Vacuo. “This will take some time.”

“I have nothing but time.”

Adler walked over to a wrought iron chair on the large patio of his estate’s garden and took a seat at a matching table, Ciel joining the man and taking a seat across from him.

“Now, tell me all about Penny.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ##  **THE SENTINEL**
> 
> ****
> 
> ####  Spring 2017
> 
> ****  
> 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Defender on the Rise](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13623060) by [Le_Roi_Ecureuil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Le_Roi_Ecureuil/pseuds/Le_Roi_Ecureuil)




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